TCM Remembers 2023

Yesterday Turner Classic Movies came out with their 2023 edition of TCM Remembers. As usual, it is bittersweet to watch. On the one hand, it is wonderful to see so many honoured in an in memorial reel. On the other hand, it is a reminder of how many we have lost in the past year. One certainly cannot watch without a few tears unless one simply isn't human.

For me the tears started early, once they hit Cindy Williams. She starred in the classic Laverne & Shirley and appeared in one of my favourite movies, American Graffiti (1973). I happen to know she was an absolutely wonderful person as well. We also lost many of my other favourites this year, including Alan Arkin, Richard Roundtree, David McCallum, George Maharis, Tony Bennett, Jim Brown, Norman Lear, Shirley Ann Field, Raquel Welch, Harry Belafonte, and so many others. My only objection to this year's TCM Remembers is the inclusion of Kenneth Anger. The less said about him the better.

The 2023 edition of TCM Remembers is the second one to include someone I know. Author, film historian, and documentarian Cari Beauchamp was an acquaintance rather than a friend, but she was a close friend and even a mentor to many of my close friends. She was not only one of the best film historians of all time, but a remarkable human being as well. As to the first time someone I knew was included in TCM Remembers, that was 2018 when my beloved Vanessa Marquez was included

Anyway, for those who haven't seen it, here is this year's TCM Remembers.