Why does it take a the imminent death of someone for them to be hailed as a genius?


I find it really sad that Wilko Johnson appears to be only getting all this, well deserved, attention in the press and on TV and radio because he’s got terminal cancer.

Why weren’t all these commentators singing his praises this time last year, or five years ago or even in the 1970’s when Dr. Feelgood were at their height? I was a fan from the moment I saw them on The Old Grey Whistle Test and I can’t recall them ever being “fashionable” or indeed “cool”. Perhaps that was part of their appeal.

To a certain extent the same has happened with Terry Pratchett. For decades he was working away supported and praised by fans but largely ignored by the wider world. Indeed some people assumed that he’d got some of the ideas for the Discworld from other more recent authors. However, it took his announcement of his Alzheimer’s for the rest of the world to catch up.

© 2013, Chris. All rights reserved. If you republish this post can you please link back to the original post.

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