Patrick Swayze, 1952-2009
It’s real this time. The brave 57-year-old actor who has been suffering from pancreatic cancer for two years, passed away this evening in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife and family. Rumors have followed him, often announcing his death prematurely, since his cancer was diagnosed 20 months ago, but Swayze continued to work, even while he was in rigorous traditional and alternative treatments for his disease.
I wondered if we were in his last days…and I know this will sound weird, but it’s because I saw a picture of him in a supermarket tabloid the other day. The tabloids are the only ones that will tell us things like that–they did the same thing with Paul Newman just before his death–and they were right. I admired so much the way Swayze was always realistic about his disease, but it didn’t let it stop him from doing whatever he could handle, including filming an entire season of a new TV show in which he was the Star (A&E’s The Beast).
I’m really sad to see him go; he was such an important figure for people who grew up in the 80’s. He was Darry, everyone’s older brother, and he was Johnny Castle, the dancing rebel from Dirty Dancing. He was the one whose fingers entwined with Demi Moore’s in the most erotic pottery session ever. Perhaps most iconically, he was the one who announced “It’s my way, or the highway.”
For the people who knew him and loved him, he was, of course, so much more than that. He was married to his wife, Lisa, for 34 years, and she was by his side through the ups and downs of his acting career, his rehab for alcoholism, and his good and bad days of cancer treatment. She was by his side this evening as he left this life for the next.
God with God, Patrick. Thank you for the good years. Our prayers are with Lisa and all your friends and family.
