Cultureshark Remembers Dan Fogelberg

OK, the man passed away several weeks ago, but come on, is it ever too late to mourn the passing of a notable singer/songwriter?

Truth be told, I never had much of a personal connection with the late Dan Fogelberg's music. Sure, I was familiar with some of his tunes. I laughed at a few, I may have even hummed a few on occasion. But really, my strongest early memory of the man is seeing his name as a punchline whenever the joke called for a Sensitive Musician. I'm not sure of this, but I believe Berke Breathed had Opus refer to him as "Dan Fogelburp" at least a dozen times in "Bloom County." Hey, it made a big impression on a 9- or 10-year-old.

Having resisted the temptation to play "Longer Than" at my wedding, I don't have many stories about Dan's music. But I do have one oddball, random memory. Picture it: First grade, end of the day. While us young'uns waited for our buses to be announced over the loudspeaker, our teacher, Mr. O'Neill, would throw soft puffy balls to us to kill the time. Often he;d hum or softly sing a tune while he--

(Hey, minds OUT of that gutter, folks. That's not a euphemism. Mr. O was a fine, upstanding man, and I am saying he literally tossed white, puffy balls--well, anyway, it wasn't a euphemism. It was CATCH, all right?)

Anyway, one day, my bus was really, really late. Since I was the only one who rode that bus, it was really, really odd. After a while, I was the only one playing catch with Mr. O.

(It really sucks to be in this day and age, where I feel I even have to add the disclaimer about this not being some kind of twisted situation).

As I was saying, it was just the two of us, and for some reason, perhaps even because I requested it, Mr. O'Neill was singing "Run for the Roses" by Sensitive Dan. A Sensitive Man (you know a first-grade teacher is Sensitive--it's pretty much a certification requirement) singing a Sensitive Tune to ease a little boy's mind as he waits for his ride home. He even had a beard like Dan Fogelburp. How touching is that?

(For the last time, stop trying to turn this into something it's not. Really. I mean emotionally "touching," not physically literally touching.

That is my strongest memory of Dan Fogelburp. Come to think, it may be my strongest memory of first grade, too. I wish I had more vivid memories of that time, but those days became blurry a long time ago. So today Cultureshark remembers not only a Sensitive Musician, but lost childhood as well.

(And by "lost childhood," I don't mean--aw, hell with it. Go listen to a Dan Fogelburp album or two if you're still finding double meanings in this story.)