The Blogfather

If you know how to properly operate the obituaries, you already know I’m still running loose out here somewhere. And if operating those aforementioned obituaries is beyond your limited capabilities, turn on WRKC in the morning and have a guy operate them for you. –Mark Cour

Mark is the self-described “Blogfather” of the local scene, perhaps the earliest and most influential of the political voices using up electrons in his attempts to move the city forward. Some agree; others do not. But it was nice of him to mention me.

I do this radio program aimed at the visually impaired and homebound; we read the newspaper’s local items, columns of interest and, of course, the obituaries (also known as the Irish Sports Page). I think: “I’d rather be looked at than viewed,” or, “There lies the atheist in the funeral parlor, all dressed up with no place to go.”

A passing in the family always brings up issues. It’s not that issues are created by the passing, but simply they were a layer or two underneath and with the passing they have come to the surface – for better or worse. Sometimes they are good: memories and stories we can now share. But they might be old resentments.

Now that Mom, Pop, Sis or Bro are gone, almost anything can happen. “Where did this come from?” someone asks. It didn’t come from anywhere; it was always around, but hidden under the family rug.