Pat Morita, star of the "Karate Kid" movies and a zillion other places, has died.
When I was a teenager I searched in vain for a martial arts teacher half as wise or skilled or funny as Mr. Miyagi. And while there have been some out there, none of them would teach me in exchange for household chores, so I had to make do by watching the Karate Kid movies over and over and putting "-san" behind all my friends' names in a gutteral voice, which was almost as good.
I remember him from "Happy Days." I remember him from M*A*S*H. I remember him from all the television guest spots when they needed an Asian guy and couldn't get Mako. I even remember him from "Even Cowgirls get the Blues." I remember him as kind and funny and wise in a common-sense-sounding kind of way, and I'll miss him.