Arthur Miller, Legendary American Playwright, Is Dead at 89.

I hated reading in high school - something about having assigned books with stupid projects took all the fun out of it. Plus, they weren't assigning Nancy Drew mysteries. But I was also a theatre geek, and I wanted to go into arts management when I grew up. So, when a play was assigned, I usually read it. At least, I'd read most of it. Then, The Crucible was assigned reading in my 11th grade acclerated English class. I read the whole thing in one night - I couldn't put it down. I remember getting to the end and just sobbing as Elizabeth Proctor said goodbye to her husband in that jail cell. It was tragic and heroic and sad and wonderful - and it made me want to be courageous in my own life. It turns out that the theater wasn't my calling - but Arthur Miller's plays have a way of making me remember what a call is about. From what I've heard, he was a... complicated... man, but I remain grateful for the way his writing touched the heart of a sixteen year old.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return, indeed.