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“Put a Glass Lid on Memories So You Can Peep It When You Need to”

Today’s story teller is a mystery writer, Shusuke Michio.

In this article, he talked about reactions over heroes’ deaths or diseases.

“Last year, hearing death of Michael Jackson, my editor cried all night, and about two weeks before that, when [W:Mitsuharu Misawa] (a Japanese professional wrestler) died suddenly, my friend from high school got so depressed that he couldn’t settle to his work. And about a month before that, when a rock musician, [W:Kiyoshiro Imawano] died, and my cousin spend his days in tears.”

Looking back to those reactions to the heroes’ deaths, Michio wondered,

“Is there someone I would feel like that? Someone I’ve never met but the death of that person makes me cry hard and shocks me to disturb my work.”

He couldn’t think of anyone like that, but he experienced a similar feeling when he heard an American actor, Peter Falk who is over 80 years old was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and couldn’t live alone.

Peter Falk is best known as the star of the TV series Columbo.

Michio has loved the Detective Columbo, and he has been a hero to Michio since he was young child.

During his student days, he wore out a new coat to make it look like Columbo’s shabby coat, and got round-shouldered by trying to look like him.

“When I heard my hero was suffering from disease, I didn’t cry or it didn’t disturb my work. I just felt like I dropped something very precious into a crevice that I can never reach my hand.”

To get over the feeling, Michio put a glass board over the crevice, and sometimes he peeps into it, where Columbo is saying “Just one more thing…” or “My wife…” in cigar in his mouth.

Michio thinks that a memory is something like that.

The NIKKEI Jul/17/2009 by Shusuke Michio (mystery writer)

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