Condolences to the family of jazz sax great Dewey Redman, who left us over the weekend. Redman was one of those far-out cats like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders, who heard music in his head that most mere mortals never could imagine. He was active right up until the end. I'm not qualified to review his work, but here's a start. Of course, he was also the father of Joshua Redman, who's a brilliant sax man in his own right.

Also passing away was Bob Mathias, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon. I'm too young to remember his performances on the track, but I seem to remember that he was the first person I ever saw on a Wheaties box. And he was on there for a long time. The fans loved him. He became a congressman, but he never flew as high as he did over that pole vault bar.

UPDATE, 11:15 a.m.: Oops! Wrong pole-vaulting Bob! Mathias did make the cover of Time, however...just a little before my time.

I'm really on a roll these days, eh?