The Loss of the Two Johns and the Mother Teresa Syndrome Revisited
I was a big fan of John Ritter. I respected Johnny Cash (although I'll be honest and admit I may be mispelling both of their first names).

I don't think a lot of people really ever saw Ritter for the actor that he was. And I think that's pretty sad. Most people might remember him from Three's Company, although that is some time ago, so today's young adults have no idea what strides were made from that show and how well that unknown Ritter made a name for himself as a comedic genius. It's pretty easy to miss some of the big moments of television history when everything happened back "then".

One thing that has sparked me to write about Ritter is that he seems to have fallen into a very sad situational paradigm that I refer to as the Mother Teresa syndrome. I don't know how many people remember the events at the time, but when Mother Teresa passed away almost no one even realized it. Oh sure, there were people who noticed, but it was swept under the rug because something else was going on at the time: Princess Diana died a few days before.

No one even seemed to pay attention that someone who dedicated her life to the betterment of others was completely dwarfed and practically ignored because someone who married into royalty (whose dedication to the betterment of others, while positive, could in no way compare to Mother Teresa's sacrifices and accomplishments). Yet, all of the news coverage was over the princess rather than the nun.

I kind of see the Ritter thing happening on a somewhat lower level. I guess this is always something I feared would happen to me if I ever managed to somehow make a name for myself. After years of toiling, I can imagine that the day before I pass away, someone like Madonna or Stephen King is going to kick the bucket.

I guess that's why I feel so bad when I see someone who I felt was cheated out of the attention he or she should have received at their final moment to be remembered.

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