Though I have been writing for TAS online for several years now,
I found out about Lawrence Henry’s death the same way I
discovered him, which was as a reader.
How happy I was each week to bring up the Spectator website and
see that Lawrence Henry column ready to be savored.
Occasionally, I felt so strongly about the value of something he
had written, I put my two cents in to reader mail so Wlady could
post it. I could have just emailed Larry (which I often
did), but I wanted him to see the praise on the site.
In the main tribute to him, some of the writers noted how Larry
wrote about the everyday things. He joked with me that he
held the “Regular Guy’s Chair” at AmSpec. Reflections on
regular life? Yes. Regular level of talent? No.
Larry died early, but he lived a broad and full life. Good
times, bad times, joy, and tragedy. He knew how to make
sense of it all.
Like Larry, I have a hope about eternity. I pray that
Larry, like the brothers and sisters of the New Testament, has
simply fallen asleep in the Lord and that his next moments are
far greater than even a writer like he could imagine.
Alan Brooks| 2.13.09 @ 4:45PM
only the good die young.