We’re missing three more greats this week

Did you notice?

We lost three friends this past week.

How in the world do you replace Andy Griffith? I know that’s said each time a much-loved actor dies, but somehow, it seems that Andy, especially with that once-in-a-lifetime character Sheriff Andy Taylor, magically become a real member of virtually of every American family.

I never lived in a town as small as Mayberry but it seemed as if it would be easy to call home and to get my hair cut at Floyd the Barber’s. I saw Andy Griffith on stage and in the film version of No Time for Sergeants. Even there, he was a loveable hick.

But in his first movie, A Face in the Crowd, he blew me out of my seat as a Lonesome Rhodes, a crude, vulgar egocentric musician. Few remember that villainous role, but the world will always remember Sheriff Andy.

The sports fans of Phoenix will remember this week as not just the week Steve Nash left town, but the week he left for the Lakers.

Now, will we be good to him when the Lakers come to town?

Finally, a friend that seemed to be missing over the Fourth: the American flag. I didn’t see many.

Maybe next year you can take one of the kids out to hang one. They may even ask you to tell them what it means.

Opie would.

I’m Pat McMahon.

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