CKNW Editorial
for October 27, 1999

Why is it that some celebrities simply catch our attention more than others?

Take Payne Stewart for example. What was it about him that had the President of the United States publicly mourning his loss moments after it was discovered that he had been killed in a plane crash? One might ask the same question about the death just over two years ago of Princess Diana. What was it that made these two people so special?

I think there are a lot of similarities but let’s examine their careers and see what we shall see.

Obviously a very talented golfer with two US Opens and a PGA championship under his belt Stewart had also gone through a prolonged slump which only really ended last June with his Open victory. During that slump he wasn’t always a pleasant chap to deal with. Indeed he went through a period of unpopularity, especially with the media, that roughly approximated his bad golf.

Princess Diana was hugely popular at the beginning of here "career" as a princess but also had gone through a terrible slump as she divorced Charles and was subject to a couple of very public affairs.

Stewart was noted for his generosity having donated an entire purse from a winning tournament to charity. He went out of his way to help the Greater Vancouver Open, a tournament which because if its timing and location needs a lot of help. He was clearly devoted to his family.

Diana gave unstintingly of her time to charities and was a devoted mother.

Both Diana and Stewart had, in their last days, not only recovered much lost popularity but in fact had increased it. Stewart, in a Ryder Cup dominated by the bad manners of the American galleries and the bad sportsmanship of his teammates had gone out of his way to be a good sport and to repair the bad feelings.

There was also something particularly horrible about the way they each died, Diana in a fiery car crash and Stewart in what appears to have been a terrible death in a plane which lost it’s compression.

I think though that there’s more to it than this. Some people just seem to relate to ordinary people. Some people have what, in the 30s was called "it." It’s hard to define. It’s rather like the presence some people have so that when they walk into a crowded room everything stops for a moment.

I know that when I heard of the death of Diana I was horror struck even though I don’t ever recall having more than a passing thought of her before she died.

When I learned yesterday of Stewart’s death I instinctively knew it was a big deal and that I should turn on CNN … which, at that precise moment was carrying a tribute, live, from the President of the United States.

As to Payne Stewart he will be a special loss to golf fans here in Vancouver for he did seem to have a special place in his heart for our city. He was colourful, a gentleman, and a golfer who, though not great, was certainly a cut or two above average – in the same league as, say, Lee Janzen or Mark O'Meara.

I can only hope that Air Canada next year will share the billing of the Greater Vancouver Open and do something special for a man who, though we may not exactly know why, meant a very great deal to all sports fans – especially those of us who live in and near Vancouver.