08.09.2008 2:14 pm
Bernie Mac
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Bernie Mac died Saturday. He was 50 years old.
He and I were about the same age, and I felt a connection to him and the character he portrayed in his celebrated family comedy, The Bernie Mac Show as an example, a good guy and good father — a mensch — helping to bring up three kids.
What a gifted person, not least because of the charismatic and compelling way he was able to convey and celebrate our common humanity.
Eddie Roth writes about education, social justice, public safety, transportation, legal affairs and historic preservation. He joined the Post-Dispatch editorial page in 2008 after six years as an editorial writer with the Dayton Daily News. But he is not new to St. Louis. Eddie grew up in Webster Groves and south St. Louis County. He's a lawyer who for many years practiced with a downtown firm, and was active in civic affairs, including serving a term on the St. Louis Police Board. He and his wife, Jeanne, and their three daughters, Emily, Julia and Alice, live in the Shaw Neighborhood.
When it comes to community organizing, he endorses Quentin Crisp's advice: Rather than keeping up with the Joneses, it's better to pull them down to your level. 
Bernie was a wonderful man.
He will be sorely missed