Last goodbye to two greats
NO simple words exist to say Godspeed to Sen. John McCain.
Having known him, I only report what he once told me. November ’ 08 we talked of the heroic years he has known, and the Someday experience he might know. His answer to me: “I would like Matt Da
mon to play me as a prisoner of war.”
Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., is Detroit’s first public viewing for Aretha Franklin. How many times did I write about her? — Let me count a few ways.
In 1999, she told me: “On the road, this Queen of Soul lives like a king.”
2003: “My bus driver knows to make stops for hamburgers.” 2007, at Charlie Ran
gel’s party: “When the fried chicken’s finished, so is this interview.”
1997, she raved about somebody’s “great grits.”
Besides food, other conversational topics were her wardrobe.
2004, she grabbed a Grammy goodie bag.
2005: “The UN should move into my closet.”
She once told me: “I’ll cut back, but I’ll never give up singing. And if there ever is a last show, I’ll wear Valentino.”
She introduced me to her hairdresser while she flashed a floor-length lynx coat.
1998: “I keep my outfits a while, then I give the stuff to the Salvation Army.” 2015 she said, “I was arrested in the past.” At Obama’s 2009 inauguration: “A dozen guards frisked my hairdo.”