As has been mentioned in comments, Christopher Reeve has passed away. I respected his determination to overcome his injuries, and I am saddened that he was not able to do so.
I presume that he would have wanted well-wishers to contribute to his foundation, so I’ve linked.
I saw Christopher Reeve as Superman when I was 11, and for me he always was the role, more than any other actor.
And I liked and admired him. He never gave up.
Link to the congressional record on the proposal of the Christopher Reeve Health Insurance Reform Act, and to many other political activities.
You will believe was the tagline for Superman when it first came out. I remember thinking, that’s an awfully bold statement for a movie to make.
I can’t remember how I felt about the film, but I know I always associated that idea with Mr. Reeve, and so I was crushed when I heard this morning that he has passed away. I always believed he would walk again. Hopefully his family will find comfort in the incredible awareness and hope he raised during his struggle. He was so much more than a superhero…he was a champion.
Thanks for the links, Moe and Jes.
There is something unalterably sad and different about the universe this morning as we wake to this news about this graceful, brave human being.
Especially now, in this world of hope shortages.
To the extent we were collectively made better by his existence, we are diminished by his death.
Empty spot. Not to be filled.
Agreed. He had been near death due to infection, a couple of times, and I’m wondering if this is related.
You’ve got to admire a guy who refuses to give up. I wasn’t all that big a fan of him as an actor (I thought Deathtrap was his best work), but at his most helpless he became most powerful in real life.
He’s obviously iconic as an actor beyond his daily life (And important to me. The Superman movies were, for me, the first experience of archetypal superheroes being humanized. Superman always had the Superman/Kent dichotomy, which seemed to reserve frailty for the human version, except in the movies Superman was lonely and otherwise human, a fact which had a profound effect on me at the time), but at times like this the daily life is the most important part. So my heart goes out to the Reeve family, and I especially commend them for bringing about and supporting a wonderful human being.
Digby has some comments from Free Republic which would make Ann Coulter blush. Bizarro world over there.
This is so sad — he seems to have been a great guy who refused to quit in the face of obstacles that would have driven most of us to despair, and tried to bring good out of tragedy.
rilkefan: ugh.
I loved this tribute, which someome just shared with me.