there are very few people that i refer to in this manner, but...damn, he was a great american and the world seems emptier without his presence.

this is the quote i've been spreading around in remembrance, from my favorite of his books - "wampeters, foma, and granfalloons" (its short stories and essays).

"when i think about my own death, i don't console myself with the idea that my descendants and my books and all that will live on. anybody with any sense knows that the whole solar system will go up like a celluloid collar by-and-by. i honestly believe, though, that we are wrong to think that moments go away, never to be seen again. this moment and every moment lasts forever."
- from 'reflections on my own death'

god.