Kirk and Elaine

Kirk Douglas from many decades ago

Kirk Douglas is an actor whose work I've always admired. His great work in Lonely Are the Brave will endure forever.

I still watch his work in Vincente Minelli's Lust for Life with awe.

A couple of years ago, I found out that Norman Corwin, who adapted Irving Stone's novel about Van Gogh for the screen, was still alive. He was nearly a hundred at the time! So I dropped him an e-mail and told him how much I admired the literary texture of his work, and to my shock, he wrote me right back with obvious and genuine gratitude, saying "You have made my day, my month, and my year."

Corwin is gone now, and so is Elaine Stritch. I've mentioned before how much more we write and think about our losses as we age ourselves. Stritch was a legend as a Broadway and Hollywood film actor, and in his regular column for the Huffington Post, the 97-year-old Douglas remembers her. (If you want to see her work, catch Autumn in New York the next time it's on TV.)

It's a lovely, almost heartbreaking piece of writing, one that should be read slowly and savored. Read it here and pass it on: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kirk-douglas/remembering-my-friend-ela_b_5619022.html

Share it with someone you love.