This morning, while skimming the LA Times before leaving for work, I noticed a familiar name in the obituaries: Digby Wolfe. My parents had an accounting office, and Digby was one of their long-time clients. Digby’s death has been floating around my head, so I wanted to write a quick post remembering Digby.
Now, I think I only met Digby in person a few times. But he did create memories. Thanks to Digby, I remember going to tapings of Cher (which he was a writer on) and the 2nd version of Laugh-In (I think this one had Robin Williams or Jim Carrey on it). I remember my folks talking about Digby all the time. I got the impression (remember, I was a teen here) that he was a nice, caring man.
In Digby’s memory, I want to share something he wrote in the 1980s for a Goldie Hawn TV Special:
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids who don’t always get A’s,
The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers
And noses that go on for days…
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids they call crazy or dumb,
The kids who don’t fit,
with the guts and the grit,
Who dance to a different drum…
Here’s to the kids who are different,
The kids with the mischievous streak,
For when they have grown, as history’s shown,
It’s their difference that makes them unique.
Rest in peace, Digby.
(Note: Completing the death trifecta, we have George Lindsey (“Goober”) and Maurice Sendak. Both men understood kids who were different: Lindsey, from all his work for Special Olympics, and Sendak, well, from his books.)
