It wasn’t until after he died Friday that I realized my old friend John (I never could get used to thinking of him as “Jon”) was so freakin’ famous. I mean, obviously, I knew he was a working actor — I just didn’t realize how many people knew who he was. I guess “Miller’s Crossing” and “The Big Lebowski” put him over the top.
When I met him, he was a theater major at Villanova, and he wrote and directed an original rock musical at the boys’ high school down the street. I auditioned and made it. I eventually got what I suppose was the female lead (it was an ensemble show) because, as he put, “we originally wanted someone more delicate and feminine in the part, but her voice wasn’t loud enough.”
Well, we all bonded. I’m still friends with a lot of people from that show, and we’re all in shock this week.
See you on the other side, old pal.
Like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go.
Ain’t no time to hate, barely time to wait,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?