Farewell to a Knight of the Stage: Sir Christopher Lee

There are days we know will come. Some we look forward to with anticipation, others we dread with our whole souls. June 7, 2015 was one of those latter days.

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee has exited the stage for good.

Lee passed away on June 7th at approximately 8:30 a.m. after being hospitalized for respiratory problems and heart failure. He had lived to the admirable age of 93.

There is hardly a person alive today who has not benefited from the entertaining talents of Sir Christopher Lee. According to IMDb, Lee has been credited in over 280 films, television shows and video games, and that doesn't take into account his years of theater acting, music recording, book and poem narrating, etc.

One thing I admired about him most was that Lee was never afraid of any role. He played everything from major title heroes and villains to less recognized support roles where he only had a few lines in an entire movie. Some of his most popular roles in film include Francisco Scaramanga, Count Dooku, Saruman, and Count Dracula. And I'm sure you gamers out there recognized his voice behind Ansem the Wise (or DiZ) in Kingdom Hearts II and 358/2. And who can forget that Lee took on the worlds of opera, musical theater, symphonic rock and heavy metal?

Lee was born in Belgravia, London, England on May 27, 1922. He lived a long life full of activity and service, and we will miss him dearly.

May he rest in peace, and may his family be blessed with comfort.

Book Review - Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I really enjoyed Life of Pi. I love the way the book is written, with all the emotion and description and voice of a memoir. It carries the first-person intensity needed to make a story such as this really pop into life. The imagery and detail are also very fun. I love the science-y bits that are included, especially the bits that show how much Pi has learned about the world and his circumstance since the time of the shipwreck. It gives the story a very realistic feel.

My only reservation is that Life of Pi wasn't a book I just had to keep reading. I could put it down. In fact I actually did set it down when things got busy and it stayed down for two weeks. I didn't become as addicted to the book as I would have liked to.

Will I reread Life of Pi? Yes, because I did enjoy it, but because I didn't become addicted to it like I have to other books, it will probably be a few years before I pick it up again.

All things considered, my verdict is that this is a book you should read at least once.

I give it: 4 out of 5 stars

View all my Goodreads reviews