I, for one, will miss John Denver. He gave us such great music, like "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Rocky Mountain High," and "Take Me Home, Country Roads." In retrospect, what was his music about? Country roads, rocky mountains, but so much more. Actually, not much more, but you get the point. In a musical world in which trends come and go, Denver had a career which spanned from July 1971 to January 1976. That's 4 1/2 years. I'd like to see Bon Jovi top that. We will also remember John Denver for his heartfelt duets with the Muppets. Few artists achieved such poignancy singing with cloth. I suppose the attempted drunken rape of Miss Piggy during the 1979 Christmas special can be overlooked. His acting range was without peer, from the dark and brooding supermarket manager in "Oh, God" to the lightly comic but sexually confused supermarket manager of "Oh, God II". Simply making us believe that Teri Garr would have regular consensual sex with him deserved an Oscar.

I, for one, do not know how we will go on. Perhaps it is a consolation that such talents as Kenny Rogers, Olivia Newton-John and Lionel Richie still remain influential forces in the music world. But eventually they will also become interested in build-your-own fiberglass planes and will crash to their doom as well. And even until that sad day comes, we will know that we have been cheated of at least 20 more years of new, different and challenging interpretations of five songs. And perhaps the music world was ready to rediscover Mr. Denver's talents. I welcomed the new techno movement as something that might be right up his alley. But there are ways to relieve the profound sorrow. Take a walk. Watch the sunrise. Play Sega with your friends. Write a letter to your family members. Paint your nails. Pray for the less fortunate, including those who have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and never had the opportunity to dance to John Denver. (Note to Editor: Do I have to pay a royalty for the last six sentences or is that in public domain?) No, I do not think we will be able to go on. Pretending that nothing happened would be a disgrace to Mr. Denver and his lovely wife Annie. This is a long national nightmare from which we will not soon wake up. John Denver is dead. And our lives are ruined forever. I want to throw up.