Art Buchwald (1925 - 2007)

“Art Buchwald has the last laugh

By Stevenson Swanson
Tribune national correspondent
Published January 18, 2007, 7:42 PM CST
NEW YORK -- Even in death, Art Buchwald had the last laugh.

The comic columnist's passing had no sooner been announced Thursday—nearly a year later than his doctors had predicted—than a video of him appeared on The New York Times Web site.
"Hi, I'm Art Buchwald and I just died," the humorist says, an impish smile playing across his face.

The video, recorded last year at Buchwald's summer home on Martha's Vineyard, is the first in a series of online obituaries to be made public by the Times. The newspaper said it has recorded more than 10 interviews with the famous and powerful, including a former president, that will remain unseen until the person's death.



NY Times site
[story down & to the left (ha), with link to the video]

Times Obit

Wikipedia Bio

432 Articles in the Post




His last column
(requires free registration)




In that last column, he wrote that this song was his way of saying goodbye:



WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, ALFIE?
(Burt Bacharach)

What's it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give
Or are we meant to be kind?
And if only fools are kind, Alfie,
Then I guess it's wise to be cruel.
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie,
What will you lend on an old golden rule?
As sure as I believe there's a heaven above, Alfie,
I know there's something much more,
Something even non-believers can believe in.
I believe in love, Alfie.
Without true love we just exist, Alfie.
Until you find the love you've missed you're nothing, Alfie.
When you walk let your heart lead the way
And you'll find love any day, Alfie, Alfie

”

“Beat me to it. I was just going to post this! What a character AB was. He provided me with mucho laughs throughout many years of reading his columns. RIP, Art! You will be missed...”

“Art was one hell of a character with a good heart and soul and mind.”

“He was a nut-and-a-half... in the best possible sense of the word.”