Jerry Goldsmith Obituary — The Toronto Sun, 7/23/04

Late this afternoon I was reminded that the late great film composer Jerry Goldsmith died twenty-one years ago today. It seems like ten years ago.

The news of his passing had been given to me through a telephone call one sunny morning: "Hey, man. Goldsmith died."

This fan since high school was saddened by the news. He was an artist who I greatly admired, and consider him to be the greatest craftsman to have practiced the art of film scoring.

What impresses some of us most about the stellar scorer is his body of work. Take a step back and look at the variety of scoring. From horse operas to space operas, with small and intimate films in between: Wild Rovers to Star Trek - The Motion Picture, with A Patch of Blue, a Papillon, some Gremlins, and The Mummy. From television: signature themes for Dr. Kildare, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Barnaby Jones, and The Waltons.

My brother and I met Goldsmith at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall in November of 1990. He had three concert dates where he played a sampling of his movie and television material. While I chatted with some people in the lobby after the concert I overheard an older gentleman telling another regular concertgoer — they were dressed like season ticket-holders — his feelings: "I was very impressed . . . it must take an incredible mind . . . that's a lot of music."

"Mister Goldsmith, I finally get to meet you. I've been a fan for twelve years." I remember the slight smile on his face. Oh yes, another nutty fan. (I was one of many nutters in that lineup.)

I was uncharacteristically a little nervous. Big name, small name, I don't care. But. I'm thinking: "This is the guy who wrote Ave Satani !"

Genius!