I just spent a great day - mainly shopping for shoes and tops - with my eldest daughter. Outside of the usual frantic "drive to school bus, drive to work, come home late, whisper goodnight" treadmill, school holidays are a really good chance to reconnect.We got a chance to talk about all kinds of things. From relationships to boys (I bit my tongue several times!) to clothes to music. On this last topic, I heard on the radio news about the death yesterday of soul legend Isaac Hayes. Born in August 1942 he became one of the foremost artists in the 1960's of legendary soul label Stax - writing such classics as "Hold On I'm Coming" and "Soul Man".
Those of us of a certain age will remember with affection his Academy and Grammy award-winning soundtrack for the movie Shaft. But I wonder how many of us knew he was honoured in Ghana, being crowned king of the Ada district. Latterly, of course, his velvety tones voiced the Chef character on TV's South Park.
His wife found his body yesterday, his treadmill still running and his body beside it. And at eight minutes past two yesterday afternoon at the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, one of our great soul legends was declared dead.
Death - particularly the death of a hero - is a sobering thought. Like a classic novel or a life-changing painting, I will ensure my kids get to hear Isaac Hayes.
photo above courtesy of the official Isaac Hayes web site - www.isaachayes.com
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