It's sad news that Kurt Vonnegut has passed from us. Of course, the primary sadness is that he won't be writing any more of those off the wall books that combined fiction, history, science fiction, and common sense. But I'm going to especially miss the haranging that he'd regularly give us all on the meaning of civil liberties.
I can honestly say that without Kurt, there would be no Notes from me for you to read. Years ago I looked at his stuff and concluded that if he could get away with plain language and run-on sentences and fragments of thoughts and throw away lines, then maybe I could too. Kurt didn't write like Faulkner and neither did I. Maybe that was okay.
Most of all, Kurt showed what someone who has seen the dark side of life, even going as far as standing toe to toe with the Great Death, can do if he can manage to keep his sense of humor. His remarkable achievement as a writer was that he was able to put the common speech and the chaotic interior life of the late 20th century into a linear format and have it make sense. His remarkable achievement as a human being was that he could make you laugh doing it. And so it goes.