Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

It has been a rough month.

First, Lemmy Kilmister, bandleader of Motӧrhead and an inspiration to me as a musician, passed away of an extremely aggressive cancer.

Then David Bowie, a massive creative inspiration in both music and acting died unexpectedly of a cancer kept secret.

And now, the latest in an awfully depressing parade, Alan Rickman, an actor I respected and loved immensely, has passed away after a battle with cancer.

I don’t know how to continue this article. What is there to say? All three of these men changed my life in some way. And now they’re gone.

I didn’t know any of them personally. None of them knew that Declan Hertel existed. But they still touched my life and made me want to be better at my chosen pursuits. And now they’re gone.

I’m trying really, really hard to not be depressed about it. I’m trying, guys. I want to remember them for all the good they did for the world, and for me. Bowie taught me it was okay to be an oddity and embrace what made you strange. Lemmy taught me that you should live large and as loud as possible. Alan Rickman taught me that persistence and a passionate love for what you do will see you through the low times.

But no matter how much they meant to me and countless others, they were still, tragically, mortal.

And honestly, that’s what makes them as great as they are. If they were somehow more, if they really were the superhumans we thought they were, then their accomplishments would diminish. The fact that they had the same limitations as the rest of us makes their triumphs greater, and truly worth remembering.

While the world has darkened for their passing, maybe their legacy will allow someone new to brighten it.

So long, gentlemen.