October 23: There has been a huge outpouring of emotion following the death of Gord Downie almost a week ago. He was a public figure, a musical icon and a man of apparent warmth and integrity. More than 10 million of us watched the Tragically Hip concert in August of last year, and, at the time, I wrote that it would be interesting to see what he did during what little time remained for him.
He has been busy: he finalized an album with the Hip; he conceived, wrote and produced an album, a graphic novel and performed a concert telling the story of Chanie Wenjack ( “Secret Path” ); he released a book of his own poetry. He visited the north and used his reputation to highlight issues facing the First Nations community. Any of these would be a signature achievement. That he achieved them all under such dire circumstances is remarkable and a true measure of his determination.
So we are left again to consider what might have been. What more might he have accomplished had he lived longer ? But I think that approach misses an important point: what he achieved was inspirational. We shouldn’t think about what he might have done, but rather about what we might do ourselves if we gather even a small amount of inspiration from his example. What more appropriate way to remember Gord Downie than to use his untimely end as motivation to accomplish meaningful things in what little time remains for us
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October 25: On last night’s show, Rick Mercer did a segment on Gord Downie which nicely captured what I think Downie was about. Love him or hate him, here’s Rick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utSEoGFh1tI