The man, the master

[enrevanche]

Richard,

I've been a fan of yours for a long time. Growing up as a little white kid in the South, as you can imagine, you can soak up some pretty unhealthy and confounding attitudes from the culture; thank you for helping me break free of all that ridiculous shit with your wonderful humor and art and truth. I'm sure you've heard that story, or minor variations on it, a million times before, but I still needed to tell you how important you were and are to me.

Saw your box set in a music store not long ago and had to buy it. I didn't intend to listen to *all* the discs at one sitting, but once I got started I couldn't stop; you were in my CD player all weekend. Man, I laughed so hard I damn nearly did myself an injury. Tears-running-down-my-face, stomach-shaking laughter.

I have been dealing with some minor neurological problems (I hope they stay minor) of late... woke up one morning and my left hand had suddenly stopped working and gone totally numb. No reason that anybody has been able to find, so far. I think I am beginning to experience maybe a tiny fraction of a taste of what you have been going through for the last several years with MS--the endless shuffle of doctors, the endless tests (I've been poked, prodded, hammered and scraped, they've shot electricity through my arms, they've taken so much blood that I suspect my neurologist is keeping an anemic friend on the side), the physical therapy aka "torture."

As I said, a *tiny tiny fraction* of what you're experiencing, and I'm already losing all patience with this shit. So you get endless respect from me for your courage and forbearance in dealing with what you're having to deal with.

Nothing but warm thoughts and good wishes for you and Jennifer this early morning from NY, NY!