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Faithful Geek: Why Carrie Fisher matters

In this Jan. 25, 2015, file photo, Carrie Fisher, right, presents her mother Debbie Reynolds with the Screen Actors Guild life achievement award at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. "La La Land" star Ryan Gosling thanked Reynolds at the Palm Springs Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, for serving as an inspiration to the cast and crew of the film. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Invision/AP, File)
In this Jan. 25, 2015, file photo, Carrie Fisher, right, presents her mother Debbie Reynolds with the Screen Actors Guild life achievement award at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. "La La Land" star Ryan Gosling thanked Reynolds at the Palm Springs Film Festival on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, for serving as an inspiration to the cast and crew of the film. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Invision/AP, File)

Nic, our Faithful Geek, tells us why Carrie Fisher matters, in this superb blog essay:

"Off screen, Fisher battled her own demons from addiction to mental illness. Yet she did so with grace and humor. I know her career was wider and deeper than her role as Princess Leia as she contributed her acting skills to movies like When Harry Met Sally and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. She was also a talented script doctor that lent her writing talents to some of my favorite movies.

"But it is her iconic role in Star Wars that made her a geek legend who was universally adored. Because of her portrayal of the Princess of Alderaan, I have discovered something much like what was delivered to her at the end of Rogue One: Hope. She gave me hope that my daughter can be both a princess and a hero, both a peacemaker and a warrior, both delicate and unbreakable, both compassionate and fierce." Full Faithful Geek post here.

DFO: I know that I'm late in publishing these thoughts from Nic re: Carrie Fisher. But I was on vacation. Strangely, I saw the ending of "Rogue One" the night before I learned Carrie Fisher had died. I was as shocked as everyone else after spending 40 years following the franchise and first seeing her at the old Showboat Theatre in Coeur d'Alene in the original "Star Wars." Nic puts into words what many of us have felt since we learned that she had been stricken with a heart attack.



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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