I wondered on where to put this, but some of you 'old timers' who might have picked up on Richard on vinyl oh-so-long-ago might be interested in the passing of a comic genious that brought such incredible laughter and spiritual/racial growth to me as a young man, sitting alone, listening to records.
By many, he crossed so many lines of bias and bigotry where we could laugh at the bits we could see in our selves and others.
Ultimately, with 'feet of clay' as we all have, he ushered in many new voices from the black community into the realms of comedy without limits.
Many smiles remain to me (such as the first time a black friend played 'That Niggers Crazy' and none of us knew where to put it in our heads) and I must admit that he was one that helped put ideas in my head that make me proud of our humanity threaded beyond racial lines by humor.
RIP, Richard, a tough act to follow.
Here's a link to the NYTimes piece:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/arts/11pryor.html?th&emc=thDeadFish
