Richard Simmons, where is he?
By Kevin Williams
You know, this is all quite fascinating. I'll be quite candid that I don't spend much time pondering Richard Simmons. But, growing up, he was one of those seemingly ageless celebrities that just always seemed to be there in the background, never changing, always showing up as a guest on a late night show or a radio talk show. There are others that fit that mold: the late Dick Clark, Dolly Parton, Jack Hanna, Regis Philbin, Larry King, Christie Brinkley, and I could go on and on people who, well, are famous but you kind of forget what made them famous in the first place, they're just famous. These are all people who became well-known for various endeavors, I didn't think much about them, but it was sort of comforting to know they were around. Richard Simmons fit that mold, he was a colorful, lively guest on a various talk shows, a successful, self-made celebrity and that was kind of admirable.
Still, a year ago Richard Simmons made the news for disappearing from sight and one year later, he has still made no public appearances. Now this is someone who had spent the past 40 years doing everything they could do to be in sight. So it is sort of jarring, if I spent too much time dwelling on it, that he could just disappear.
The New York Times has an article today about Richard Simmons disappearance. It seems now there is a popular podcast (the most listened to one on Itunes right now) exploring the theories behind his disappearance. I said I don't spend much time pondering his disappearance and I guess I won't because I listened to about half an episode and then got bored. I guess I don't really care what happened to Richard Simmons. Well that sounds harsh. I don't mean that...I guess I just mean that as long as he is acting in free will that is all that matters. I mean, I hope he's well, and if he's being held against his will, that is awful. But he is an adult. If he decided just to unplug and shut off the world, well, that is his business. Still, it's odd. It'd be one thing if he just wanted to unplug from the celebrity trappings of his life, but he apparently has shut out everyone.
So, what do you think? Why is he in "hiding?" Do you care? Should a caseworker of sorts be dispatched to do a thorough welfare check? Oh well, if this is a topic that interests you, check out the article in the New York Times. And if you want to go directly to the podcast click here. I will tell you, as far as podcasts go, this was super easy to listen to. Not downloading, logging into anything, just click and play. I might actually listen to more podcasts if they were all that easy.
Sharon Murray
No, I don't miss Richard Simmons. He is way too loud and clownish for me. Funny because when he first started
I followed his diet and exercise program and actually lost weight. But of course I didn't stick with it and well you
know that story all too well!
However, here in Bangor, Maine we are suppose to get hammered with the BIG snowstorm. Anywhere from 12 to 20+
inches. No kidding. Our last blizzard was Feb 12 and we got 24 inches and that has not all melted away yet because it
has been so cold. Tomorrow's storm will just add to it. Consider yourself lucky not to live in the snow belt.
Kevin
Sharon, SIGH, thanks for the update. You are so, so, so, so luck to be in Bangor in a blizzard, sounds amazingly fun to me. We just don't get that sort of thing here. Ever. It's frustrating. As for Richard Simmons, yeah, I agree with you generally. He was kind of a caricature, that is for sure, it's not like I was some huge Richard Simmons groupie, but he was always sort of part of the pop culture wallpaper of my youth, strange that he just chose to disappear...
JOYCE HINE
TRY CORDISONE 10 FOR YOUR PROBLEM I CURED MY HUSBANDS WITH IT
Linda from KY
Maybe you missed that big snowstorm we had in January, 1996. But here in Kentucky, we got a whopper of one. The winds' mph weren't quite high enough to be called a blizzard, but it was close. That was moving day for us. We moved into this house that we had built all spankin' new. We almost had unexpected overnight guests because the friends who helped with the move barely got out of here in time.
Regarding Richard Simmons I'm like you in that I care about him as a fellow human being, but his supposed disappearance doesn't occupy my thoughts very much. I appreciated that he wanted to help people attain a healthy lifestyle, it's just he was rather clownish as Sharon said. However, you seriously don't mean that Dolly Parton is in the background. Maybe she is for you, but not for me! Richard Simmons isn't in the same league. Dolly Parton is a singer/singwriter who has won several awards. She's a good actress too. She wrote and recorded, "I Will Always Love You." That song alone has earned a lot of money and accolades for her through other artists recording covers of the song, not to mention Dolly Parton's own recordings.
Kevin
Linda, I do remember that storm, but it really spared SW OHio, anywhere south of, say, Covington, though, was paralyzed. As far as Dolly Parton goes, you're right, putting here on the same plane as Richard Simmons was probably not the most accurate, I guess I just meant that she was just one of those "always there" pop culture icons growing up, I have much admiration for her!