Loss reminder that few gentlemen are left

I was reading an article on the recent death of 93-year-old Christopher Lee, who is famous for his many roles in “Dracula” and over 250 movies in his career. He was also Saruman in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He was mostly famous though, for his roles in horror movies.

Peter Jackson, who directed the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, said in his tribute to Mr. Lee, that he was “A perfect gentleman, in a world that no longer treasures gentlemen.”

I thought about that line a lot. For years, I have had the same sad feeling, that gentlemen are dying out and the world has no use or place for them. To me, it is a sad commentary on how far the world has fallen from the lofty and noble spirit that humans once had. Common courtesy and social manners, respect for other people, grace and even just decent behavior are no longer parts of people’s lives. It is so sad that the best parts of what should be the cornerstones of our society have crumbled and soon, will no longer exist at all.

It is as if in some aspects, humans are regressing and not advancing. While we strive to become smarter, we become less … human. I think if I were God, looking down at what we are becoming and where we seem to be heading as a species, I would be both sad and disturbed that we are shedding the best parts of human nature. We lose someone like Mr. Lee and while we pay tribute to his career as a performer, few people actually realize what we actually lost. A great human being. A gentleman.

DAVID BERG

Yuma