Goodbye Mr. Williams

Growing up I enjoyed movies, not love like I do now but enjoyed the. I would watch them with a shrug and enjoy the occasional behind the scenes story.  Sixteen years ago my view on cinema was turned around dramatically and I was in love.  There was no looking back.  During the summer of 1998 Robin Williams came to town to film Patch Adams.  

During the summer I became emerged in cinema watching the movie come to life.  By the end of that summer my affair with cinema had started and is going strong to this today.  During the year I would experience many firsts in film.  I saw my first Bond flick - Tomorrow Never Dies, learned about the rating system while viewing my first R rated feature - Air Force One, and learned about the academy awards, which Mr Williams had just won for his work on Good Will Hunting.  Of course all this led to the granddaddy cinema event of the year for me, the release of Patch Adams.

In the years since my love for film was nurtured.  I started reading biographies on the greats such as Hitchcock and Kubrick.  Additionally I started watching the classics (Gone With the Wind, Top Gun, The Wizard of Oz and eventually The Godfather to name a few) all while falling deeper and deeper in films.  I ate up as many new releases as I could (Gattaca, Waking Ned Devine both of witch I include as all time favorites).  All this because I got to watch Mr Williams perform his art.

During the summer of ‘98 I had the pleasure of meeting the man who would become a hero of mine.  It was brief but memorable and unforgettable.  It was only a minute as he autographed my Flubber poster.  It’s a moment that I have always treasured, even more so now since his passing.

Years later I would see him perform his stand up live at the DPAC and that night reaffirmed my love with cinema. 

In the days and weeks to come I’ll pull many of his movies off the shelf from his varied career and give them another viewing, many for the umpteenth time.  All in honor of the man who introduced me to my first true love, the movies.  Good Morning Vietnam, Good Will Hunting, Mork & Mindy, The Night Listener, Man of the Year, and of course Patch Adams all come to mind.  

Mr Williams I thank you for introducing me to my first true love of film.  I will treasure your works forever and wait patiently to lovingly view your final films as they grace the screens.  You were then, are now, and will forever be a titan of cinema and one of my heroes for championing my love of cinema.