To Absent Friends: Crosby, Packer, Williams, and Hull

Absent Friends are leaving us faster in January that I can write about them, so these posts will be, regretfully, briefer that they should be.

David Crosby 1941-2023

Guitarist and vocalist David Crosby is remembered as a founding member of two seminal rock and roll groups of the late twentieth century, The Birds and Crosby, Stills, and Nash (sometimes Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young).  One of the best descriptions that I heard of Crosby following his death earlier this month came from podcaster Tony Kornheiser, who likened him to the quintessential "glue guy" on a baseball or basketball team.  He may not have been the best player, or lead vocalist in this case, but he made every group that he was a part of better because of his presence.

Seek out and find a documentary film from 2018 called "Echo In The Canyon" about the 1970's music scene in Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon.   Crosby is interviewed extensively throughout the film, and it is Must See for music fans of that era.

It is hard to pick a "best song" from Crosby, Stills, and Nash, but let this one serve as a tribute to the memory of David Crosby.

Billy Packer 1940-2023

Former college basketball coach, most notably at Wake Forest, Billy Packer passed away last week.  While he made his bones as a coach, he became far, far better known as television broadcaster of the sport.  At a time when college basketball was just becoming a part of broadcast network sports television, Packer teamed with fellow coach Al McGuire and broadcaster Brent Musberger, and they were an immediate hit with the audience.  Packer's pedantic X's and O's approach contrasted sharply with McGuire's hip, New York City street sense.  He was Felix to McGuire's Oscar, and they were largely responsible for the boom in college basketball as a television staple.  Packer was large presence at CBS's telecasts of the Final Four, first with Musberger and then with Jim Nantz, until his retirement a few years back.

My favorite memory of Packer was watching him on CBS' "Selection Sunday" show and listening to him carping and bitching over the fact that there weren't more ACC teams in the tournament.   It was gold, Jerry, gold.

"Hello, Friends"

Cindy Williams 1947-2023

Cindy Williams co-starred with Penny Marshall on one of the better television sitcoms of the late 1970's and early 1980's, "Laverne and Shirley".   She was cute, funny, and a talented physical comedienne who teamed perfectly with Marshall on the show.  She was also the featured lead actress opposite Ron Howard in George Lucas' terrific 1973 movie, "American Graffiti."  She was 75 years old.  As my buddy Dan said, when someone you watched and maybe even had a crush on back in your youth, it makes you sad.

With Marshall in "Laverne & Shirley"

As Laurie in "American Graffiti"

Bobby Hull 1939-2023

At a time before the Pittsburgh Penguins came into the National Hockey League, the NHL and the sport of hockey was barely a blip on my sports fan radar, yet I knew who Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks was, and that is the definition of a superstar.  His goal scoring and other accomplishments on the ice were overwhelming and undeniable.  I was going to write in a bit more depth of Hull's accomplishments on the ice, and then I  read his obit in the Washington Post on him today, and I almost skipped mentioning him entirely.

Hull, it seems, had a dark side.  He was married three times, beat up on at least two of his wives, was an indifferent father (although one of his sons, Brett, became an NHL superstar in his own right), and he drank a lot.  He also had a, shall we say, less than enlightened view of race relations and how to treat people of color.  Oh, and he thought that Hitler had a lot of "good ideas."  As I said, I almost skipped including him in this write-up, but what the Hell.  Let's just call him an "Absent Friend with an asterisk."

RIP David Crosby, Billy Packer, Cindy Williams, and Bobby Hull