"My last words? Life is no way to treat an animal, not even a mouse"

"I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I’m dead."

I've bookended this post with two quotes from the Kurt Vonnegut collection God Bless you Dr. Kevorkian, as they seemed strangely relevant, as did the title of this post, which came from I Love You, Madame Librarian.

How do you eulogize a man that was one of the most influential writers of the late 20th century, a literary giant whose ideas changed more than one generation for the better?

I remember reading Harrison Bergeron when I was in high school, and quite a few of his other novels throughout college, and I was especially drawn to The Sirens of Titan, and it makes sense as I was to later learn that it was one of the novels that was influential on Douglas Adams. His work exposed me to a greater depth and range of satirical writing that I may never have known, and for that, I will be eternally grateful.

His hometown, Indianapolis had decreed that 2007 was the Year of Vonnegut, and Kurt Vonnegut was scheduled to give the 2007 McFadden Memorial Lecture on April 28th, and receive the first annual Kurt Vonnegut award that same day. It is odd timing, no matter how you look at it.

Eulogies from my fellow bloggers: Indexed and Electronic Cerebrectomy

"Ta ta and adios. Or, as Saint Peter said to me with a sly wink, when I told him I was on my last-round trip to Paradise: “See you later, Alligator.”

Tags: kurt vonnegut, eulogy, sirens of titan, 84, death, god bless you, mr. rosewater, dr. kevorkian, indianapolis, year of the vonnegut, harrison bergeron, saint peter, remembering