Over the years John and I became pretty good email buddies. We tried to become telephone buddies, but time zone differences, personal obligations and career challenges nipped that in the bud. Our emails covered a vast array of topics, everything from personal issues to politics to audio and every so often we'd dissect one of his reviews or a review written by someone else. In terms of family life and politics, John and I didn't have much in common; however, we did share a mutual respect for the opinions of others, so this made for some lively and very candid discussions. I was surprised sometimes by his take on things as I am sure he was often surprised by mine. ("No John, Art's column was not just about him rounding up horses who decided to launch into a game of catch me if you can. The horse story was just a detour.")
One day this last September I returned home from a visit with a urologist who had just told me he suspected I had prostate cancer. I've dealt with cancer before and know all of the wrong ways to deal with it, so I immediately resolved to handle things with a bit more elegance this time around. I opened up my email and found one from John, and he informed me of his diagnosis. I launched into my positive-attitude cheerleader routine in hopes that I could help him avoid some of my prior mistakes.
I made it a point to followup and ask how he was feeling and what kind of progress was being made, but after awhile he didn't seem to want to talk about those issues at all. Now I understand why......things were much worse than he led me to believe in his email. But that's okay, we still enjoyed a colorful debate on the preparedness of Bill Clinton to assume the presidency as compared to that of Sarah Palin.
John, when you get to where you are going you need to get a local phone book and look up my old friend Bob Crump. He's supposed to be setting up a special commune for audiophiles in the afterlife, but if I know him he was sidetracked by some heavenly Italian restaurant. You can remind him about what he is supposed to be doing and help keep him focused. I'm sure the two of you will get along just fine.
