Norman Lear & Ralph Cirella RIP

Death is a complex thing.

Everyone dies eventually but not in the same way. Some people live long lives and die peacefully at a ripe old age. Other people live for a much shorter period of time and die suddenly. There are no good deaths but some deaths are much better or worse than others.

And some people leave huge legacies while others leave some something short of greatness but are otherwise notable. 

Two people whose lives and legacies couldn't be more different just died, and I'm surprised how sad I am about both.

Norman Lear is one of the most important contributors to American culture of the last 50 years. In the 1970s he created the sitcoms All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, One Day at a Time, and others. His shows, many set in NYC, were hilarious -- he gave us Archie Bunker's "YOU ... are ... a MEATHEAD!" and Jimmy Walker's "Dyn-o-mite!" -- but they also forced Americans to look at uncomfortable truths like racism, sexism, single motherhood, broken families, and poor communities. He changed not only American television but American culture, and the legacy of his shows reverberate to this day.

Lear has just died at the awesome age of 101, and it's amazing to realize that he didn't create his most important work until he was nearly 50 years old -- and then got to live another 50 years to see how lasting it was. An amazing man, an amazing life, an amazing impact, he was an American original.

Ralph Cirella is someone you'd only know if you are, like me, a huge fan of radio icon Howard Stern. Ralph was his stylist, his friend, his flunkie, and a lot of people loved to hate him because he had a great talent of pissing of just about everyone. But Ralph was a colorful, interesting character who created some great moments for the show. And he was on the show for almost 40 years! I grew up listening to him on Howard so Ralph's death feels like the death of a friend I never knew.

While Ralph didn't leave some kind of huge cultural legacy he was a part of something, a supporting player, for someone who did. The show wouldn't have been the same without him. Sadly, Ralph died suddenly at age 58 after his heart gave out during a procedure to treat a rare lymphoma. It's a tragedy, and great loss.

So one guy lived until 101 and left a huge legacy while another lived much less long and basically left a dent. But they led interesting, impactful lives -- and we should all be so lucky.