If a funeral for a good friend can be called "lovely," the one for Earl Kress this afternoon sure qualifies. The place was packed with a Who's Who of the animation business, much of it standing in the back because there weren't enough seats. One charming aspect of the event was that it was held in the same chapel where Stan Laurel's funeral took place…and it was on what would have been Jim Henson's 75th birthday. I don't think either was intentional but Laurel and Henson were two of the six or so people Earl admired most in the world.
Earl's family did something wise: They kept it short. There was a chaplain, speeches by Earl's three best friends (I was one), a couple of speeches from family members and the Mourner's Kaddish. I think we were out in about an hour. There were many in the hall who could have given eloquent, passionate speeches but…well, I've been to funerals where they offered the microphone to anyone who wanted to speak. That usually winds up being long and uncomfortable with people saying the same things over and over…and eventually you get to someone who wants to talk at length about himself. If and when you have to program a memorial service, remember this: Shorter is always better and Much Shorter is even better than Shorter.
Actually, I did say one thing about myself from the podium when I related the following. Earl passed away early Monday morn. Monday evening, I executed a hostile takeover of www.earlkress.com, a domain he had registered but had never used. It's mine now and I've set up the beginnings of a site all about Earl, collecting things he wrote and things that were written about him. In the months to come, it will be expanded but it's online now and you can go there and learn more about our pal. He was quite a guy…as you'll see.