Gruff actor had epic career, legacy

In September 2018 I had the pleasure of working with iconic actor Ed Asner when he came to town for a fundraising performance for Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre.

I spent quite a bit of time with Asner and his daughter, Liza, over three days and it was delightfully memorable. Asner was 89 and in the twilight of his career and life, but he was a consummate professional. He was my co-pilot as I drove him to and from wherever he needed to be. We shared a lot of laughs, and even shared a flight of sherbet at Beverly’s.

He was one of those people in life with whom you have little in common but feel like you’ve been friends forever. His gruff, curmudgeonly persona from TV was real-life Ed, too.

He had little interest in re-living the past, he was too busy touring and performing all over the country in the present. When I jokingly asked him if he thought I had spunk (in reference to a favorite scene from the Mary Tyler Moore show) he played along and replied, “I hate spunk.” Then he confided that the scene was one of his least favorite.

Asner spent the last few years of life with a touring schedule that would be a challenge for someone decades younger. His original production of “God Help Us!” raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for community and small professional theatre companies from coast to coast.

This past July he was in Whitefish, Mont., with a show benefiting the Whitefish Theatre Company and the Actors Theatre of Montana. An Aug. 17 performance in Muncie, Ind., was postponed by the Cornerstone Center for the Arts due to COVID concerns, and Asner’s next scheduled appearance was to be in September in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

He died of natural causes Sunday at home in Los Angeles and I’d like to think his tour is continuing in Heaven. Asner would have celebrated his 92nd birthday in November.

My three words to describe such a legend? He had spunk.

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September signals the return to routine after a summer of adventure and leisure, with a Labor Day last hurrah. Summer 2021 gave us a lot of too-hot and too-smoky days, too few opportunities to travel far and wide, but September has long been one of my favorite months. We should have some still summer-like weather coming and more elbow room at boat launches, campgrounds and beaches.

The autumn equinox will be Sept. 22 this year so we have 22 days to enjoy the best season of all.

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Happy birthday today to Kathy McKahn, Terry Lee, David Mills, Kim Routh, Sharon Latimer, Missy Hansen, Paul Ebert and Travis Best. Tomorrow Doug Wheeler, Tammy Kelly, Bonnie Miller, John Parmann, Kelley Inman, Stephanie Foster, Kelley Taylor, Dale Borley and Debbie Pohlmeier celebrate.

On Sept. 3 Willi Buerge, Lesli Linde, Emily Davis, Kris McIlvenna, Jim Hamby, Robin Merrifield, Patty Jacobs, Jeremy Moser, David Armstrong, Jeff Tyler and Taylor Valente blow out the candles. Saturday birthdays will be marked by Paulette Fabian, Maggie DeTar, Steve Yost and Rich Dickman. Jay Broderick, Ken Bookamer, Bobby Olson and Dave Pulis celebrate Sunday.

Carl Riegert, Jack Evans, Amy Carlson, Evelyn Wegner, Dave Chamberlain and Della St. Clair blow out the birthday candles on Labor Day. Keri Alexander shares a Sept. 7 birthday with her mother Sherry Krulitz, Vicki Fulton, Laura Umthun, James Arras, Lori Millsap, Kathleen Cavender, Nikki Luttmann and Jim Brannon.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.