A Pair of Folk Legends Pass On!

We all know it will happen. As certain as we are of our next breath, we are also certain that eventually there will be our last breath. From the beginning of life we edge closer and closer to death. And so it is recently, that two icons of the 60's and 70s' have surrendered to the call of nature. But oh, what a legacy they left.

Dick Wilson....oh what a common name! Who would ever think of him as anybody but the guy next door. But his legacy will live on as long as the children of 60's and 70's are around. His tombstone might read Dick Wilson, but in our hearts and minds he will always be "Mr. Whipple."

Charmin toilet tissue hit a home run when it put Dick Wilson on the payroll. A common man in appearance, he played the role of a genteel grocery store operator who did not want his Charmin display tinkered with. The ever vigilant Mr. Whipple was on guard constantly waiting for the shopping ladies (most shoppers during that generation were women) to pick up the soft package of Charmin and begin to squeeze it.

Pouncing like a father protecting its young, Mr. Whipple would always say, "Ladies, please don't squeeze the Charmin." Of course, his reprimand fell on deaf ears because Mr. Whipple was squeezing the Charmin more vociferously than his customers.

Dick Wilson passed away several weeks ago and his death was memorialized in USA Today by a full page ad in honor of Mr. Whipple by Charmin--a nice touch by a large corporation for a man who was the face of the company for so many years.

While Mr. Whipple was a gentle character, the other death of recent note was that of Robert Craig Knievel, Jr., more notably recognized as Evel Knievel.

Evel Knievel put the "dare" in dare devil. He always denied that he was a hero, but quickly claimed that he was a guy who could ride a motorcycle. And with a little bit of business savvy, he turned his riding skills into a sideshow of mega-proportions.

Jumping objects in his path was the gig that Knievel sold to the masses. From an initial jump over a mountain lion and some snakes in cages to the somewhat aborted attempt to leap across the Snake River, Knievel used his salesmanship skills to become a well-known character who had tremendous influence over the youngters who grew up watching him and attempting their own dare devil style jumps in their own backyard. It would be interesting to know exactly how many broken bones can be attritubuted to the influence of Evel Knievel.

True as it is, death doesn't wait for anyone. And these two folklore giants have passed into the anals of time. But its safe to say the two won't soon be forgotten.