D5

Eric Lewis
City Views

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The entertainment world lost two icons last week with Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both dying, Jackson still quite young at age 50 and Fawcett only a little older at 62.

This isn't news to anyone by now, of course, but what I found interesting last week was how their deaths affected so many of us in some small way.

Here in Metro Moncton, the news of both deaths sent shockwaves. The day after the King of Pop died, for example, it was a major topic of discussion everywhere I went.

My girlfriend and I were out seeing Sarah Slean in concert at the Empress Theatre in downtown Moncton (a fantastic show, by the way) on Thursday, the day of Jackson's death.

In the span of about 10 minutes, my cell phone vibrated from a phone call and text message from someone wanting to know if I'd heard about Jackson. My girlfriend's cell phone also vibrated from a text message and call from someone else wondering the same thing.

When we got all these messages all at once, our first thought was that something was wrong with a family member or friend -- someone must be sick, injured, or hey, maybe someone won the lottery and we were rich (you've got to look at the positives, right?).

Everyone knew we were out for the evening, so what could be so important that we'd be getting all these calls and messages?

Turns out, they just wanted to know if we'd heard about Jackson's death.

We passed the message along to folks sitting at our table, and the news made its way through the room full of people during the concert's brief intermission.

We surely aren't alone in experiencing this little phenomenon. Any time a famous figure passes away, it gets people talking. But it's interesting how these figures, whom most of us have never met or been affected by in any personal way, affect so many of us.

My father has told me many times the story of being at a party in August of 1977 when news came over the radio of Elvis Presley's death.

At that moment, the party ended. People were crying over the loss of the King of Rock N' Roll, and no one felt like enjoying the evening any further. It's a moment my father, and likely many of his friends in attendance that evening, never forgot.

A moment I'll never forget came when I was channel-surfing late one night in August of 1997. I was only 12 at the time, so the significance was lost on me, but I stumbled upon a news headline saying that Princess Diana had been killed in a car accident. I went upstairs to tell my parents and their friends, and everyone flew down the stairs to watch the news coverage. They, like millions of others, were stunned.

Even just last year, I strolled into work around 9 a.m. and a co-worker told me he was shocked I wasn't wearing black.

I had no idea what he was talking about until he told me legendary comedian George Carlin had died. It's not exactly a secret that I'm a big Carlin fan, but I hadn't heard of his death the day before until that moment. I was stunned, saddened and kicking myself a little more for not having gone to see the comedian live in Saint John a few years prior.

It's interesting how the deaths of these seemingly larger-than-life characters affect us. Is it just because they are in front of us all the time, in newspapers and on television, that makes their passing affect us? What they leave behind -- music, jokes, memories -- is surely noteworthy, but the outpouring of grief and tributes from people who have no real connection to those who have died is still surprising sometimes.

I'm not sure what it says about us as a society that these deaths affect so many of us, and I'm no psychologist, so I won't venture a guess. Nonetheless, it's interesting to observe.

Another death last week had a major effect in this region, but that surely doesn't come as any sort of surprise.

The death of legendary Acadian and former governor general Romeo LeBlanc brought about tributes and kind words from folks from all walks of life across New Brunswick and across Canada, but LeBlanc's impact in Canadian politics and as a figure in Acadie leaves no wondering why his death would bring about tributes and an outpouring of emotion right here in Metro Moncton. After all, his impact can be felt right here in our own cities, neighbourhoods and streets.

***

Mother Nature took a break from the extreme humidity and rain Saturday afternoon so that 30,000 music fans could enjoy a great day of rock n' roll.

The Bon Jovi concert, which apparently saw the biggest walk-up crowd to an outdoor show here we've ever had, went off without a hitch. All day long, as we reporters and photographers strolled about the thousands of attendees doing our best to capture the feeling of the event, all we saw plastered on the faces of everyone we spoke to were smiles.

It was a great summer kick-off, and if anything, I'm now even more excited for the other shows coming up -- McCartney, KISS and AC/DC. It's a great summer to be a music fan on the east coast.

n City Views appears daily, written by various members of our staff. Eric Lewis is a reporter with the Times & Transcript. His column appears every Wednesday.