My dear readers,

Last month one of the best and most profound contemporary musicians, Neil Peart, passed away.  It was a heartbreaking shock for long-term fans like myself.  He had been the impossibly talented drummer of the three-person Canadian band Rush.  Until recently, they had been producing new music and touring internationally for over forty years.  Often it felt as if we were changing, evolving, growing in tandem because their music accompanied me throughout much of my life’s unfolding journey.

Bandmates, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson wrote the music, while Peart wrote the thought-provoking, self-reflective lyrics that set Rush apart from most other rock bands; lyrics that demanded attention, passion, and compassion.  For both this and his masterful drumming, Peart was often referred to as The Professor.  In 2007, he penned the song «Armor and Sword,» for which he wrote:

The snakes and arrows a child is heir to

Are enough to leave a thousand cuts

We build our defenses, a place of safety

And leave the darker places unexplored

Sometimes the fortress is too strong

Or the love is too weak

What should have been our armor

Becomes a sharp and angry sword

Our better natures seek elevation

A refuge for the coming night

No one gets to their heaven without a fight

We hold beliefs as a consolation

A way to take us out of ourselves

Meditation, or medication

A comfort, or a promised reward

. . .

Peart will be deeply missed.  The loss of Rush as a group leaves a gaping void.  I will be forever grateful for their songs and their life-affirming, humor-filled, breath-taking, irreplaceable, awesome live concerts.