Superman Star Christopher Reeve Dies
Superman Star Christopher Reeve Dies of heart failure on Sunday October 10th, 2004.
I heard an interview on NPR a few weeks ago with Christopher Reeve. The interviewer ran through a lengthy introduction praising all of Mr. Reeve's accomplishments in his efforts to walk again, concluding by asking Mr. Reeve where his recovery was today.
Mr. Reeve responded that he wished he could say things were going as well as one would think from the introduction, but the fact was he has had 2-3 near death experiences in the last year after breaking his hip.
Sadly at that moment I kind of suspected Mr. Reeve might pass on soon. I am very sad that he did indeed pass on on Sunday.
Honestly, even as a kid I did not like Mr. Reeve as Superman. I thought he was not muscular enough and was too wimpy. :) (My Favorite Christopher Reeve movie by far the 1980 movie ``Somewhere in Time'' where he plays a very low tech time traveller.)
It was only after he stopped doing the Superman movies that I grew to really appreciate Mr. Reeve. You see, while Mr. Reeve may not have played a convincing Superman on the movie screen, it seems he was Superman in real life. (And for the record he hated anyone making that statement while he was alive---but I am going to defend the statement next.)
Not that I ever met him. I only know of Christopher Reeve what I articles I have read about him and what interviews I have heard about him. The articles all say the same thing about him---that he was always kind and generous to people who met him and always had time for people. The interviews I have read with him, quite frankly, all took place after his unfortunate accident. I came away from those immensely impressed with his strength of will to walk again. Reeve was willing to put his body through all kinds of experimental medical techniques to reach that goal. He used his fame to advance medical science in the treatment of the paralyzed. Like Superman, He put his body in harms way to help others. (OK, that may be overstating things a touch...but not much.) He did so not only to help himself, but because he truely felt that there was no reason people SHOULD remain paralyzed. He knew that he could be a voice for the paralyzed to ensure that medical treatments to help them improve just like treatments for everyone else. Should our medical advances not be applied to certain types of injuries, or is that simply a type of discrimination?
Mr. Reeve was a staunch critic of President Bush for not pushing to legalize and finance more stem cell research. He was very critical of what appeared to be religious motivations for blocking research that can potentially help the paralyzed to live fuller lives.
Christopher Reeve was 52.
I heard an interview on NPR a few weeks ago with Christopher Reeve. The interviewer ran through a lengthy introduction praising all of Mr. Reeve's accomplishments in his efforts to walk again, concluding by asking Mr. Reeve where his recovery was today.
Mr. Reeve responded that he wished he could say things were going as well as one would think from the introduction, but the fact was he has had 2-3 near death experiences in the last year after breaking his hip.
Sadly at that moment I kind of suspected Mr. Reeve might pass on soon. I am very sad that he did indeed pass on on Sunday.
Honestly, even as a kid I did not like Mr. Reeve as Superman. I thought he was not muscular enough and was too wimpy. :) (My Favorite Christopher Reeve movie by far the 1980 movie ``Somewhere in Time'' where he plays a very low tech time traveller.)
It was only after he stopped doing the Superman movies that I grew to really appreciate Mr. Reeve. You see, while Mr. Reeve may not have played a convincing Superman on the movie screen, it seems he was Superman in real life. (And for the record he hated anyone making that statement while he was alive---but I am going to defend the statement next.)
Not that I ever met him. I only know of Christopher Reeve what I articles I have read about him and what interviews I have heard about him. The articles all say the same thing about him---that he was always kind and generous to people who met him and always had time for people. The interviews I have read with him, quite frankly, all took place after his unfortunate accident. I came away from those immensely impressed with his strength of will to walk again. Reeve was willing to put his body through all kinds of experimental medical techniques to reach that goal. He used his fame to advance medical science in the treatment of the paralyzed. Like Superman, He put his body in harms way to help others. (OK, that may be overstating things a touch...but not much.) He did so not only to help himself, but because he truely felt that there was no reason people SHOULD remain paralyzed. He knew that he could be a voice for the paralyzed to ensure that medical treatments to help them improve just like treatments for everyone else. Should our medical advances not be applied to certain types of injuries, or is that simply a type of discrimination?
Mr. Reeve was a staunch critic of President Bush for not pushing to legalize and finance more stem cell research. He was very critical of what appeared to be religious motivations for blocking research that can potentially help the paralyzed to live fuller lives.
Christopher Reeve was 52.
posted by The Tobidian at 10:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home