Tire Magnate

Some of you long-time (or at least in-depth) readers of Things That Exist will remember this winter's post about Les Schwab Popcorn Bags.

Les Schwab died today at age 89. Here is an obituary from today's New York Times.

It's really hard to find an adjective that describes a really good obituary. "Sparkling," "wonderful," and "great" just don't seem fitting with our gloomy views of death. So let's forget about being gloomy and say that this is a wonderful obituary that sparkles with all the wonderful things that made Les Schwab great.

There's a funny thing about celebrity deaths. For me anyways, the most affecting ones are the people that were on the background of our celebrity conciousness, especially the charming people who seem to have built their lives around a unique passion. They seem extra human. I remember standing at a magazine rack in a mall bookstore this fall. A man and his wife were also browsing through magazines.

"Steve Irwin died," the wife said.
"Was that the alligator guy?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"That's sad. I really liked that guy."