If you ran into Ed in his
last four years wearing a bright purple polo shirt, chances are it was mine. He
almost took it right off me at the first of our several lunches on Ventura
Boulevard. I resisted, but went to the internet and ordered three identical
ones for him. He called me to say thanks and to invite me to the next lunch. We
had in common that we were from Kansas City, that we were both liberals (though
he went closer to the wall on that score than I did, and that we both admired
the longevity of his irascible humor. It was a pleasure getting to know him
personally and I’m sorry to see him go before we could get him into one of our
films. Ed, you rocked!
