The Professor (RIP)

A personal blog is often a place for many words about a lot of things: thoughts, reflections, and whatnot.  Today, I will offer just a few words, about something that has affected me very deeply.

As I’ve said before, Rush was my favorite band growing up.  Their music was the soundtrack I lived my life to.  Their lyrics reassured the mind of a kid who was a bit of an outcast, and more than a little odd.  And their music never got old – they continued to change with the times and with their own tastes.  A lesson I hope to keep with me as I (hopefully) continue songwriting for many years to come. 

Neil Peart died earlier this week after a three-and-a-half year battle with glioblastoma.  If you don’t already know who Neil Peart was, all I can do is offer you just a sample of how the man played, and then urge you to read his writings.  His lyrics are the liturgy of Rush. His own storytelling spoke of a humble but searching mind.  

I would ask you to do one thing, if you can.  Glioblastoma is a devastating and frighteningly unkind killer.  Unfortunately it is a disease that I have more familiarity with than I would like, due to a dear friend’s struggles (more on him another time).

Glioblastoma of course also took another great songwriter, Gord Downie (of the Tragically Hip), back in 2016. On his passing, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto established a fund for brain cancer research.  If you can, please donate.

I have to go now.  It’s hard to type through tears.