Monday, October 11, 2004

I'm Back

We got in from the Bouchercon a couple of hours ago, and the first things I heard were that Christopher Reeve and Ken Caminiti had died while I was gone. I enjoyed Reeve in several movies in addition to Superman, and Somewhere in Time is one of Judy's all-time favorites. He demonstrated a heck of a lot more courage after his injury than I'd be capable of, and I've admired him for it. Caminiti was the third baseman for the Houston Astros for a number of years and later became the National League's MVP. Soon after his retirement, he admitted to using steroids, which tarnished his image considerably, and then he fell on really hard times. He was an alcoholic, and he went on to abuse hard drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin. He was a heck of a ballplayer, and it's sad to me when someone with his abilities goes down the wrong road. The power of his addictions was just too much for him to overcome. Maybe if he'd had some of Reeve's courage, he could have helped himself, but I'm not sure if even that would have helped. I'm sorry as heck for both of them.

Maybe tomorrow I'll feel more like saying something about Bouchercon.

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