I wanted to note the passing of three important writers — columnist Molly Ivins, novelist and screenwriter Sidney Sheldon, and TV writer-producer Bob Carroll. All left us in the last few days and I'm sure you can learn all about any or all three with a minmum of Googling.
Of the three, the only one I ever met was Bob. He was a man who wrote many things during his long career, most of which don't get mentioned a lot because we're all too impressed with the fact that he was one of the main writers of I Love Lucy. A credit that impressive tends to suck up all the oxygen in the room, and I think Bob liked the fact that I talked to him about his other projects like The Mothers-In-Law, a sitcom in that "oughta be on DVD" category. It's probably the obvious cliché to say that his work will be rerun and loved forever but it's also probably true.
As for Sidney Sheldon and Molly Ivins: I never made it very far into any of Mr. Sheldon's novels, not even the one with the thinly-disguised portrait of Groucho. But I sure liked The Patty Duke Show and I Dream of Jeannie. And I sure liked Molly Ivins's writing, especially when she was in high outrage about something Texas-related. I have the feeling we'll really miss her, especially throughout the rest of the Bush administration.