Marcello Truzzi was and is one of the most remarkable men I have ever known. During a friendship of 15 years, we shared interests in skepticism, music, magic, mentalism, religion, philosophy, comedy, the golden age of television and radio, you name it. Marcello knew enough about almost anything and everything. Yet, we shared in-depth analysis of many things that might escape most people's attention, such as why jokes were funny ("No Richard, stop laughing hysterically — that's not why the joke is funny. Stop it! You're laughing for the wrong reason!"). 

    He studied everything and everybody. He learned and "professed." But more than that, he shared his humanity, his wit and excitement for life. True, he talked faster than most everyone, but I suspect that was only because he found the world so interesting that he simply wanted to share that much more with his friends and colleagues. 

    And that is precisely why his loss is so difficult for me to accept. Those who knew and loved him depended on his joy and zest for life, no matter what the topic. The one thing Marcello never really knew was that the "topic" did not matter. To us, he mattered. He, himself, not what he knew about anything in particular, no "it" or "other," but rather Marcello himself. I wish he could have known and felt how much he was treasured just for his being and not for necessarily knowing or doing anything. 

    I know he felt he didn't write and publish enough. But the fact is, a teacher effects eternity, because he never knows where his influence stops. Marcello was like that. The thousands of students he "professed" to and his friends and family live on. We remember. And if we continue, he continues! 

    There is not a single day that goes by that I don't think of and miss Marcello Truzzi. I hear the laughter. I feel it. And forgive me Marcello, my old friend — you are the reason for the laughter. I know exactly why. Instead of loss, I am learning to just be grateful for the time we did share!