In Memory of Grandpa Sommerman

1Josh • 6th Feb 2009 • blog entries

Ed Sommerman

Jan 29 1928 – Jan 31 2009

Perfection Wasted

And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market —
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their tears confused with their diamond earrings,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories
packed in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That’s it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren’t the same.

John Updike

Pictures of our trip to Indiana with the Sommerman Family

More Pictures of Grandpa’s Trip to Nome in 2005