JOLLY DAYS

Richard Pryor

In a beautifully written NYT obituary that amounts to a tribute, Richard Pryor is laid to rest.

…Mr. Pryor's often harsh observations and explicit language did offend some audiences. But he insistently presented characters with little or no distortion. “A lie is profanity,” he explained. “A lie is the worst thing in the world. Art is the ability to tell the truth, especially about oneself.”

He told the truth with all its weight and lightness and freedom. So frail and fierce, so strong and fearful, so flawed and clear-eyed, he invoked the human spirit in his very presence on stage. Exposed, so exposed in center stage — the place he was meant to be.