Just a guy who tweaked the golden thread

GaynorSeptember 11, 2020

On this day in 2003, the much loved American actor, John Ritter, to whom this site is a tribute, passed away suddenly.

I never had the honour of meeting him but from chats I’ve had with those who know him, including some of his family and friends, he was one of the celebrities who to a large degree DIDN’T have an on-stage persona, in other words, what you saw is what you got, and I think that’s one of the many reasons we are drawn to him.

The premise of this site is around the fact that John wanted to be remembered as someone who tweaked the golden thread.

John Ritter had an acting teacher, Nina Foch, who introduced him to the concept of the golden thread, one which he carried throughout his life, saying:

“I want to be remembered as just as a guy who was interested in the golden thread that intertwines all of us together. You know, that golden thread that goes through me and you, and the cameraman, and all the people out there and back through Nancy. That’s what an artist can do, that someone – anyone – could do, if they’re willing to pluck that. And either it makes you laugh or it makes you cry, it’s that golden thread of humanity, and I’d like to be remembered as maybe a guy who plucked a few of those.”

John has clearly achieved this objective, deservedly so, and continues to do so to this day. New fans are emerging daily, some younger than my own children! John exuded love and laughter that could not be contained in a decade, a country, a generation or a gender.

People might wonder why some of us are so drawn to bright flames that we may never know or meet. After a lifetime of contemplation, I’ve realised it’s quite simple. In those days, the medium of TV provided mentorship, guidance and love, that we might have been lacking elsewhere. And today it’s stretched to the internet, to cellphones, to broadband, to tablets. Love will live and never die! And to the particular – JOHN’s love will live and never die. John also loved the Beatles, including the song The End:

“In the end the love you make is equal to the love you take”. John made ENDLESS love.

Through my website I hope that I also tweak the golden thread and I hope that from somewhere above, by the thriving and growing fandom and noise, John can see what he meant to us all.

You STILL tweak the golden thread, John – and it’s not even as though it’s ‘remembered’. Your love is all around, NEVER to be forgotten.

RIP John Ritter. Always golden, and always loved.

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