RIP, Mr Silver.
Posted on 03/18/2009 2:52:48 PM PDT by Syncro
SILVER'S BRAVERY NOT AN ACT
March 18, 2009
I wish I could ask Ron Silver what he thinks of the AIG bonuses. He'd have some original take -- maybe propose re-opening the bonuses paid to Franklin Raines and Jamie Gorelick for their yeoman's work running Fannie Mae into the ground and then collecting bonuses of $90 million and $24.7 million, respectively. Or maybe he'd just make a joke.
But I can't ask him anymore because Ron died of a rare esophageal cancer last Sunday.
So now there is one less person in the world who never chooses his positions to feed a pompous ego or to stroke his self-image as a thinking person. There was no point to posturing for Ron: His social standing in Hollywood was revoked the moment he supported Bush and the Iraq War.
Perhaps Ron always spoke his mind, but I didn't know him when he was "brave"; I only knew Ron when he was actually brave.
I've noticed that words like "brave" and "courageous" are mostly used nowadays to mean "left-wing.." We're constantly asked to admire the monumental courage of Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Janeane Garofalo and the Dixie Chicks -- sometimes even by other people.
But for my younger readers, what courage traditionally meant was risking the disapprobation of people you know. It was about losing friends, losing work and losing status where you live -- not alienating people you will never meet. Insulting people in Kansas when you live in Los Angeles is not speaking truth to power; it's speaking anything to serve power.
One thing you cannot say about Ron's magnificent speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention is that he did it to go with the flow in Hollywood, to take the path of least resistance, to win easy applause. Ron did lose work, lose friends and lose his entire social apparatus.
Ron didn't say what he said to get any kind of reaction, but because he believed it. He was an intellectual trapped in an actor's body.
Amid the antiques at his beautifully appointed Park Avenue pre-war, there were piles and piles of magazines and newspaper articles on topics ranging from Sunni Muslims to Darwinism. Nearly every room was lined with books, most of them dog-eared.
When I needed to stay with Ron for a few weeks once, he'd get up hours before I did, read all the major newspapers and leave the interesting articles circled at the foot of my bed.
This might be the nicest thing a man could ever do for me. Hey, skip the bagel and fresh coffee -- bring me that op-ed page and a pair of scissors! It was like a fabulous Park Avenue hotel with a clipping service.
During his long-shot chemo treatments at "the spa," as he called Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Ron turned his chemo rooms into Command Central. Most people doze off during chemo; Ron would be sitting upright, watching the news, checking his laptop and making cell phone calls, seemingly oblivious to the poison being injected into his arm.
He'd often come to church with me on Sundays -- while insisting he favored the "Original Testament," as if the New Testament were an act of judicial activism. He just liked to hear an intellectual lecture on the Bible -- and always perked up when the minister began discussing the "Original Testament."
Read more at AnnCoulter.Com
As with his impending death, Ron mostly joked about his banishment from the plutocracy. When I off-handedly mentioned in December 2004 that I had to get a Christmas tree, he told me he'd like to help, but having recently spoken at the Republican National Convention, the last thing he needed was to be seen walking through the streets of New York carrying a Christmas tree.
Read the rest at AnnCoulter.Com
Kind words about a good man. I just hope the lefties don’t start some classless rumor about a sordid affair.
Ron Silver was a patriot and a voice of reason in an otherwise completely unreasonable industry. He will be missed.
Was he Jewish? If so then why was he “popping” hosts into his mouth at a church?
good post
Very touching. I’m glad to know Ann was there for him.
Very strong man of principle. Takes strength to admit there’s a better way and act on it.
This is beautiful I laughed and cried at the same time..Is that possible?Mr Silver is the Lucky one he is watching what is going on and is shaking his head in disgust of the democrat party..
Very very very nice
A wonderful piece of writing. God bless you Ron Silver, and thank you Ann.
Would surprise me if they didn’t or come up with something similar to smear his name. In this case I don’t care what they think or even intend to look for or at it.
RIP Mr. Silver.
Ann writes a very touching eulogy for Ron Silver.
Yeah, this is pretty good.
They don't believe it's the Body and Blood of Our Lord, so it isn't sacrilege. But I'm not sure why he would be participating in any Christian communion ceremony if he was Jewish.
That eulogy brought the tears. Ann has a way with words like no other modern thinker/writer. Ron Silver was an American first, with Hollywood way down the list of ID factors. He is one of the ones I look forward to meeting some where/when. Ann was lucky to know him personally, but then Ron would probably have confessed he was lucky to know Ann personally. Good and courageous people are like that.
I’m pretty sure it’s a Protestant Church. So I won’t comment on its rules.
What a nice tribute to Ron. I had no idea they were good friends.
When Ann’s acerbic (which admittedly is just about always), you can be pretty much sure her target deserves that approach.
But I’d certainly agree it’s reassuring to see the kindness and gratitude she expressed in this piece - and Silver surely deserved it.
And I did like the fact that she still managed to work in a couple of sharp digs at the (unnamed) slime who did try to punish Silver for his personal integrity.
I hope the rest of the posters respect this very nice eulogy for Mr. Silver without throwing a dig in about the writer.
The classiest thing she has ever written.
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