Sunday, June 28, 2009

The death of Billy Mays a bigger deal at my house than MJ and the rest

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Billy Mays died.  You know—the loudmouthed, bearded guy on all those infomercials you either love or hate.  So while the rest of the world buzzes with the deaths of bigger celebrities, at my own house Billy Mays’ passing has made a much bigger impression—especially for my 6 year old, who has always been interested in infomercials.

My son’s first introduction to infomercials was not through one featuring Billy Mays.  It was back in January, 2008, when I posted this item concerning “Green Bags.”  (Since that time, my son has concluded, with the help of his grandmother who purchased some, that Green Bags really do work.  He did his own experiment with grapes! )

Anyway, since that time, my son has always been interested in infomercials.  I even wrote about it again this past July.

This year, my son and I were thrilled to see a new series on the Discovery channel called Pitchmen, featuring the entrepreneurial exploits of Billy Mays and his infomercial partner-in-crime Anthony Sullivan.  (In fact, we just watched the show last night on the DVR. )

My son told me that one day he was going to invent something so Billy Mays could sell it.  And I found this obscure reality show enchanting, for some reason.  I had, unwittingly, become a fan of Billy Mays—so when I heard he died, in the same week as all these other celebrities, I found myself feeling much more a loss over his passing than, say, Michael Jackson’s.

I am fully aware, on the one hand, that saying any of this in public makes me look like a total goofball—but it’s true.  In the past few months, my son and I had become fans of Billy Mays.  He will be missed.

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.Cincy..Capell. says:
28 Jun 2009  at  08:30 pm | #

It’s a sad day in our house as well Dean. The Wife & I became started watching Pitchmen a few months ago and we grew to enjoy the show. Billy Mays seemed like a really good guy and family man. Our deepest sympathies are with his family.

NtotheC says:
29 Jun 2009  at  09:54 am | #

As a huge fan of the entertainment factor and absurdity of infomercials, Billy Mays was one of my favorites.  As he was an active producer of entertainment his contributions will be missed.

Pitchmen was a really great show and it was interesting to see Billy Mays’ son Billy III and his interaction with them.  My sympathies go out to his family.

A Loss says:
29 Jun 2009  at  12:23 pm | #

Yeah you are SO right again Deano.

Tell that to my son who lost his father to cancer like Farrah. That one hit him in the gut esp with the media trying to educate people WHY SHE WENT TO EUROPE for treatment that isn’t available in the US.

Talk to your buddy Justin and his idea of a universal payor insurance and that will only slow down research to a crawl. But he knows how medical research works. He knows it ALL. NOT.

And tell my son, why we worked with someone in France to get Inclone for his dad illegally shipped to us because of Martha Stewart and her little $$$ gain that got her prison time. And why we did so to buy another 9 months of life for his father. Only too late to work.

And about the death of someone elderly, that should be respected.

A loss is a loss. One is not greater than any other. And theirs is not greater than any death notice in todays paper either. 

It is the media to blame for this. Each family is experiencing a loss. Each one is personal. It is how they are shown in the eye of the public that is how you take it. Behind a closed door, fathers, sons, mothers, siblings, cousins are are in a deep state of grief. You can’t belittle that.

For fun google Chapter 2- YWBB.org and learn something if you dare to step into the world of grief. Read the MJ post there. It isn’t pretty here. Post something as a non widow and get slapped around by 15K widows and widowers. Get some reality about death.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) says:
29 Jun 2009  at  02:41 pm | #

Get a grip, anon #3.  Nothing in this post makes an argument.  So what are you arguing?

You think I need to grieve every one of Earth’s deaths equally? 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_die_a_day

Looks like a quarter of a million people die every day.  I do not grieve for most of them.

A Loss says:
30 Jun 2009  at  12:30 pm | #

Dean,

You are the one who wrote the article to begin with concerning Bill Mays death. And you got it. Your 3rd sentence. You shouldn’t grieve one’s death more than any other! Including a public figure and comparing them to the losses of last week. You fell into the same feeding frenzy as CNN, MSNBC, FOX and the rest by even having an MJ article on the Beacon! 

That was the point I was trying to make. The media has just shoved this crap down our throats 24/7 since it happened. One death is no greater than any other. I am sick of all of them getting all the media’s attention.

There was no mention of Merkles visit to the White House last Friday- you had to dig to find the story, and the energy bill that is just now getting coverage. Huge stories got put on the back burner because of this crap.

But get a grip- stick to what you do best and stop the frenzy yourself.

ThatDeborahGirl says:
30 Jun 2009  at  01:58 pm | #

Billy Mays death made a big impact at our house as well. His energy alone sold me hook, line & sinker on OxiClean. We bought that stuff for years! And Kaboom & Orange Clean. When he went on to selling other stuff, I became more skeptical.


On a different note:

On the one hand this comment says:
Talk to your buddy Justin and his idea of a universal payor insurance and that will only slow down research to a crawl. But he knows how medical research works. He knows it ALL. NOT.

But just before same commenter says:
Tell that to my son who lost his father to cancer like Farrah. That one hit him in the gut esp with the media trying to educate people WHY SHE WENT TO EUROPE for treatment that isn’t available in the US.

Uh- don’t most European countries have what we Yanks consider “universal” health care?  If they have treatments that aren’t available to us here- then obviously their research hasn’t been “slowed to a crawl” due to providing universal care.

I get that you’re trying to make some sort of emotional point, I’m just saying -your two statements appear to contradict each other.

A loss says:
30 Jun 2009  at  04:43 pm | #

No they don’t.

Farrah went to Europe for basically a chemotherapy ablation treatment for her liver metsand nothing radical like coffee colon cleanzing. What she did was sound medical treatment that we can’t get moving in the US because of the way Cancer research is funded.

IF we go to a single payor system and take away all of the drug company money, and grants from drug companies and General Electric for radiation treatments- things will get even slower than they are now.

The way that European trials are funded is thru their healthcare tax dollars. Most Europeans are taxed at a 50-60% rate. No red blooded American is going to stand for that much coming out of their checks. With that much money coming out, they are able to expidite the funding for research, don’t have the big brother mentality of the FDA looming over their heads, and still get money from drug companies and other personal grants. The Louis Pasteur Cancer Institute is so much further advanced than we can ever be, because of the government funding they receive. And the Queen’s Colorectal Cancer Center in London is another example-a huge portion of their funds comes from tax dollars as well as the Royal Family, and other funding from drug companies. So they do something like double dipping the system.The amounts are double what they get from the government here. 

So the amount of taxes here wouldn’t allow for further research for disease treatment- and Billy Mays should have had a cardiac workup and not had such advanced disease. Yes- sudden death happens- happened to my dad, but he was 73 years old. But I am now 51 and have had a full stress test already due to family history. Now the problem is- my insurance premiums sky rocketed due to preventative care. That sucks.

But back to the real issue- the media has blown all of this so out of proportion it is now at a disgusting level. What Billy Mays family and Farrah’s family has done is gracious. Please get out of our lives. But as long as the media is there- the Jacksons will speak.

The real thing that bites- upon death- about 90% of the debt is wipped out. Only corporate debt stays. So I wish someone would mention that! All then do is produce a death certificate and there can be no further claim on his debt if he was the sole signer on that debt. California Law. Shut up about 90% of their stories.

.Cincy..Capell. says:
02 Jul 2009  at  12:02 am | #

My Wife & I just watched the last episode of Pitchmen that Billy Mays filmed. The tribute to Billy at the end of the episode had us both crying. Billy Mays RIP.

Just as BAD AS MJ says:
09 Jul 2009  at  11:48 pm | #

Just announced tonight- they family has announced- they are going to let 4 remaining commercials run that he has already taped.

They are just as bad as the money hungry Jackson clan. I was hoping for better for them since they asked for privacy in his death. NOT!

This is grandstanding at it’s worse. TERRIBLE. Just when you really wanted to believe in one death that week that would be tasteful and full of grace. They stoop to this level. SAD.

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