May 24, 1999

Death is weird in a pop culture world. It is the ultimate moment of individuality--even if surrounded by family, or in front of TV cameras, or as part of a massacre, you die alone. It is a condition entered into by oneself. Yet death is also a circumstance, a piece of reality, a bit of news, that necessary relates to other circumstances. And as a necessity of its existence, pop news culture is good at presenting big wads of circumstances forever locked together in the same news cycle.

I am a dedicated reader of obituaries. Unlike the news that results from canned press releases, staged congressional hearings, fully-briefed court sessions, and long-scheduled sports events, the configuration of an obituary page is uncontrollable. Not one entity--a company, a country, a lawyer, a group of athletes--can determine who ends up next to each other on the obituary page. There's power in that kind of messiness.

Aside from learning a lot about a wide variety of subjects that dead people have made a life's work from, I tend to look for patterns and meaning out of obituaries. Samuel Beckett died in the last week of December 1989, and at the time I thought to myself, "his body couldn't stand to take one breath of the 1990s." Mother Theresa only lasted about two weeks in a world that didn't hold Lady Di anymore. Frederico Fellini and River Phoenix died on the same day. For some reason, Ronald Reagan still lives.

So yesterday (02/18/01) was a banner day for someone like me. Dale Earnhardt, one of the greatest race car drivers ever, and Balthus, one of the great European painters of the century, died on the same day. Now I can't imagine a single place--besides maybe an online death poll--where the words "Balthus" and "Earnhardt" were uttered in the same sitting. They each led lives that almost certainly never considered the other. Yet there they were, dead and together forever.

The patterns of Balthus and Earnhardt:

News of Balthus' death made the front page, below the fold, of the New York Times, which ran the simple headline "Balthus Dies" along with a photo of his 1935 self-portrait. People who read the New York Times like to think that they know obscure things like who Balthus is.

News of Earnhardt's death made the front page, below the fold, of the New York Times, which ran the headline "Stock Car Star Killed on Last Lap of Daytona 500" along with a photo of his car being T-boned by the #86 M&Ms car. People who read the New York Times like to act like they don't know who Dale Earnhardt is.

In the middle of his career, Balthus worked with a new medium, casein tempura on canvas, to produce a series of figure paintings that burnished his reputation.

At the end of his life, Earnhardt, worked with NASCAR to help bring them into a new medium in the first broadcast of their first network television season.

Balthus smoked Camel cigarettes incessantly and lived to be 92.

Earnhardt drove for the Winston Cup incessantly and lived to be 49.

Balthus was befriended as a child by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who helped his development as an artist.

Earnhardt befriended Michael Waltrip, helped his development as a driver, and helped him win his first race on Sunday by blocking other cars from reaching him.

Balthus once said of himself, "Balthus is a painter about whom nothing is known."

After winning the Daytona 500 for the first time in 1998, Earnhardt said, "I was going to try to go for the hole. I went for the hole and made it. Fortunately nobody else wrecked behind me and we got through there OK."

Balthus was raised in Paris, France, which is full of haughty little people who are much too cultured for something like a Business Park.

Earnhardt was born and raised in Kannapolis, North Carolina, which recently announced the development of Kannapolis Gateway Business Park. Located off I-85 along the new Kannapolis Parkway and Highway 73, the 100-acre park will feature approximately 753,000 square feet of industrial space and 10 acres for a retail center.

Balthus made a lot of paintings while alive.

Earnhardt painted a lot of towns red while alive.

Last May, Sotheby's got $3,085,750 for Balthus' "Nu Aux Bras Leves". The 59 3/8-by-32 1/2-inch oil on canvas depicts a naked adolescent girl stretching while seated on a bed.

Earnhardt is motorsports' leading all-time money winner with $41,639,662 in his career, but probably made much more on related Earnhardt merchandise, including bedspreads.

Balthus was a painter and stage designer, just like his father.

Earnhardt was a race car driver, just like his father.

Balthus died in his chalet in La Rossiniere, Switzerland.

Earnhardt died in his Chevrolet in Daytona, Florida.

Balthus is survived by a wife and children.

Earnhardt is survived by a wife and children.

Balthus and Earnhardt excelled.

© 2003 Daniel X. O'Neil

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