Farewell to a Pair of Legends

by Adonal Foyle

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming." - John Wooden

I've been thinking a lot about death lately. Don't worry, everyone. I'm not going to jump off any bridges or anything like that. I've just been thinking about death in general and the context of what it means. I've been thinking about this because of a pair of deaths in the last week.

First, there's legendary college basketball coach John Wooden, who died on June 4 at age 99. This was a man who was an absolute giant in basketball. I met him when I went to his house while I was in high school. I just remember thinking, Wow. I'm going to meet John Wooden. I remember him speaking; he really commanded a room. He was a very real man in terms of the simplicity of how he sees the world.

Every time I think of him, I think of him in the context of the legendary poet Robert Frost. Coach Wooden was able to dissect the world and put it into simple phrases that captured life well-lived. He's been a truly remarkable man, accomplishments not withstanding (10 national championships - seven in a row, 88-straight victories, 38-consevutive NCAA Tournament wins, etc.). But what will be remembered most about Coach Wooden is that this is a man who rose to amazing heights and, basically managed to walk this world as a giant while walking amongst little people all at the same time. He did not assume that his achievements would give him any kind of legendary status. He continued to live a simple existence. That is truly amazing.

The second death was that of actress Rue McClanahan (yes, I watch The Golden Girls). She is now the third of the four actresses from that show who has left us. Having grown up with women (I have two sisters) and being raised by my grandmother, I appreciated how they learned to make growing old a fun and beautiful thing and not something where you just sit in a corner, shrivel up and die.

I began to think, what do John Wooden and Rue McClanahan have that made their lives so remarkable all the way to their final days? What similarities did they share? And this is the answer I came up with.

There are only two guarantees in life - you're going to pay taxes and you're going to die. What's important to many of us is that in death, the greatest thing you can do is leave something behind. Leaving something that people will look back to and say, here's someone who really contributed to society. John Wooden and Rue McClanahan are two people who lived great lives, and, as a result, left us a legacy. No matter where they go on in death, they will always live on in all of us because of their amazing accomplishments.

We will always have Coach Wooden to thank each time we step on the basketball court, and we will always appreciate Rue McClanahan each time we watch a rerun on TV. But more importantly, their simplicity and humanity of growing old and having fun is the true legacy they will leave behind.

May you rest in peace John Wooden and Rue McClanahan.

- Adonal