The Cellar - Another Sad Event in Entertainment

A lot of people I meet have no idea who he was. If you spend a little time jogging their memories, they'll eventually give a sort of "oh, yeah...now I remember him" sort of response, but seldom is the light of recognition in their eyes.

Spalding Gray had a talent that I admired above most other talents...the ability to hold rapt an audience by the power of one's voice and mind alone, without props, without music, without dancing, without gimmicks. Sadly, I have learned that the body of Spalding Gray was positively identified today after having been pulled from New York's East River yesterday. Gray had gone missing from his apartment for the last two months, and had already been feared to be a suicide, due to his history. It is believed he jumped from the Staten Island Ferry, a suitably droll route to the hereafter from one of our finest neurotics.

"Swimming to Cambodia" and "Monster in a Box" are two of his filmed monologues which are fairly easy to find either in a video store, or on cable. The former is his darkly humorous tale of having been an actor in the movie "The Killing Fields". The latter is about his attempt to write the Great American Novel, and the effects it had on his life. Both are prime examples of his skill, award winning documentations of his wit and his fears.

Gray was a lifelong depressive, having come from a not too savory home life as a child (his mother was a suicide), and having battled various demons along the way. It used to make me feel good thinking about Spalding and his demons, because I reasoned that there might be some truth to the supposed value of talking out one's troubles and sharing one's experiences as a form of mental health maintenance. Certainly, if there was ever a man who needed such maintenance, it was Spalding Gray, but the process of his 'treatment' produced some of the most entertaining, insightful and profoundly humorous insights I have ever heard.

The first official date my wife and I went on together was to see him perform, in person, "Gray's Anatomy" , a reflection on depression and the gradual decay of one's body and mind over time. Despite my characterization of the theme, it actually ended hopefully, amusingly; belying little of the turmoil that must have still raged within his aching spirit.

If you aren't familiar with his work, perhaps you'll honor his memory by seeking out any of his recorded works and giving them a viewing. You'll not be disappointed.

RIP, Spalding. I wish I'd gotten a chance to meet you.