YOU DON'T EVEN WANT TO IMAGINE WHO'S THIRD

Broadcaster David Brinkley Dies at 82 (FRAZIER MOORE, AP)

Oscar Winner Gregory Peck Dies at 87 (DAVID GERMAIN, AP)

Even if these things do come in bunches it's hard to recall a more deservedly respected twosome who've died on the same day. We'll always recall Mr. Brinkley, a consumate journalist, for an exquisitely unjournalistic moment, when he congratulated his ABC colleagues for their coverage of (I think) the 1996 Democratic Convention and told them how impressed he was by their creativity, then, unaware they were live, continued by saying that Bill Clinton had not a creative bone in his body which was why he was a boor and always would be. It was one of those times when the media accidentally told the truth.

Meanwhile, Mr. Peck, always a sympathetic figure on screen, gave us one of the most American moments in the history of cinema. There's a great scene in To Kill a Mockingbird, where a rabid dog shows up on the Finch family's street. Scout and Jem run for the housekeeper, Calpurnia, and she summons Atticus, who arrives shortly, Sheriff Heck Tate in tow. The bloodthirsty kids watch eagerly, anticipating that Tate will shoot the dog, but to their bewilderment he asks Atticus to do it. Atticus, who in their eyes is a sort of effete intellectual, turns out to have been the best shot in the county, though he dislikes hunting. Atticus puts the dog down as his children stare at him, mouths agape, a newfound awe and respect evident in their adoring eyes. Humbly, Atticus hands back the gun and heads back to work, an unpleasant duty done. The parallels to the nation are precise. We recognize that dangers exist but would rather someone else deal with them. Until, that is, the threat becomes immediate, and then we're the most dangerous folks in town, ready to deal lethally with the nuisance. Then, as soon as it's passed, we go back to our lives.

Both men had brilliant careers, but for those two bits we'll especially remember and now miss them. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 12, 2003 9:47 PM