In lieu of Supporting Friends Friday, I’ve decided to dedicate this Friday’s post to the memories of three great men that left us in the past week.  One was a beloved funnyman; the second an influential public intellectual; the third a former colleague’s husband.

That order is not indicative of a ranking by significance or importance, to be clear.  As I noted, I consider all three of these gentleman to be great men.  Each contributed something to the world in their own way.

The first, of course, is Norm Macdonald (yes, the first “d” is lowercase—like Norm himself, it’s quite odd).  He had been struggling privately with cancer for nine years, continuing to work, putting out a podcast and a Netflix series.

Norm Macdonald was a weird guy, but in the best way possible:  he truly lived his life on his terms.  In an age in which comedy has been reduced to spouting Leftist talking points in an ironic manner to rapturous applause—note it is rarely to laughter—Macdonald continued doing what comedians are supposed to do:  be funny.  A large part of being funny is being truthful, even and especially when it’s unpopular or uncomfortable.  Macdonald’s comedy was hilariously discomfiting, and he never bent the knee to the woke mobs, which considers anything remotely humorous out-of-bounds in polite discourse.

The second is Angelo Codevilla, an important thinker and writer on the Right, who wrote for years for the Claremont Institute.  Codevilla was immensely erudite, and saw the true nature of our nation’s uniparty elites long before most of us realized the game being played on the American people.  As photog wrote on his blog, “Codevilla wrote about the oligarchic basis of the American regime and along with Michael Anton recognized Donald Trump’s ability to expose the uniparty for what it was.”  It was Codevilla that identified the revolutionary pattern of our current politics, and how the Left keeps turning the ratchet towards revolution.

His death comes as a serious blow to the intellectual Right.  His words will live on, and may well prove prophetic—more so than they already are.

Third and lastly, a dear former colleague’s husband passed away recently.  He and I only met a few times at some school-related get-togethers for faculty, but I always appreciated his stoic goodwill.  His wife—my former colleague—was an amazing teacher and an incredible writer in her own right (she wrote the play that my student Robert Mason Sandifer set to music).  I could tell they loved each other very much, and I am hoping she is holding up well.

I want to respect the family’s privacy, but I will note he was perhaps one of the last federal marshals to be a trustworthy friend to the American people, and to our Founders’ vision of a limited, self-governing republic.

Please keep my former colleague and her family in your prayers.  Likewise, remember the Codevilla and Macdonald families.

God is Good.  All three of these men, as far as I know, were Christians (yes, even Norm Macdonald).  They are now—we can hope—basking in God’s Glory.

Rest in Peace.