Egon...

Say It Aint So

I lost a good friend this week, Harold Ramis.  I never actually met him, shook his hand, or had a chance to tell him how he influenced my life, but he was my friend.  I was a child of the eighties.  Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Danny Aykroyd, Brian Doyle Murray, Chevy Chase and the extended creative families from Chicago's Second City, National Lampoon's, Saturday Night Live, and SCTV  helped to create and mold my sense of humor.  I remember when I was a little girl, sneaking into the living room after everyone had gone to bed, turning on the television and watching Todd give Lisa "Noogies," Jane was apparently an "ignorant slut," and the newscaster was Chevy Chase...and I was not.  While I didn't understand all the jokes at that time, I became addicted to the laughter, to that unexpected element of surprise, and to the rhythm of comedy.

Almost every funny quote I repeat, or funny scene that often plays in my head has Ramis's fingerprint on it. Where would we be without the "Deltas" or Caddyshack to quote on the golf course?  Let alone the classic comedies that he wrote, directed, starred in, or sometimes a combination of the three jobs for an impressive career for 30 + years in comedy. ["Dying is easy, comedy is hard."-Edmund Kean]  Here are just a few:  National Lampoon's Animal House and Vacation, Stripes, Meatballs, Back to School, Ghostbusters I and II...

As a writer, I fell in love with Ramis's ability to make people laugh and think at the same time.  He was able to spotlight the conflicts and inconsistencies of the human condition while showing the individual's power to grow, develop, and succeed.  All of this was done with a wink and a smile nudging the film goer to feel better leaving the theater than when he arrived.

My favorite Harold Ramis project was without a doubt, Groundhog Day.  Through this film, I felt I met Harold Ramis, the man.  He was a voyager that sought to find the importance of the life he was given.  His quest to learn what was important...what made life worth living... was a joy and honor to watch.  I also think that casting Bill Murray was genius.  Who better to move from one day/ life to the next so seemlessly, always lovable even when he was portraying the most selfish and despicable of human emotions?  This opus of tedium, monotony, sin, redemption, and salvation is a work of art for my lost generation of "do-over" kings and queens.  I watch it several times a year.  I am always surprised by how it effects me.  As I personally accumulate more life experiences, I see new depth and dimension in this film each time I view it.  I think that is remarkable.

Perhaps comic, Seth McFarlane, summarized it best when he wrote, "Harold Ramis was a brilliant, shining example for every comedy writer hoping to achieve excellence in the field.  He will be sorely missed."

Here's to finding all those answers, Hal.  I so wish we could have had more time together.  Thanks.