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Much Ado About Publishing

A Tribute to Joe Bodolai

by Nina L. Diamond

Joe Bodolai died of a broken heart.

You may not know his name, but you certainly know his work: Among many other accomplishments in the U.S. (where Joe was born and raised) and Canada, Joe was a writer on Saturday Night Live in 1981-1982, he produced the sketch comedy series Kids in the Hall, created and produced the Canadian TV show Comics, launched Mike Myers' career, helped create the Canadian cable channel Comedy Network, produced Canada's Gemini award shows, mentored comedians and writers on both sides of the border, and was also instrumental in bringing major league baseball to Toronto as the Toronto Blue Jays' first publicity information director.

Joe Bodolai dedicated his life to humor, and to mentoring and supporting writers and performers. His final days reflect that.

While most of us were preparing for the holidays, Joe checked into the Re-Tan Hotel in Hollywood on December 19, 2011.

Four days later, on December 23rd, he tweeted a lot about movies, music, Christmas memories, and a few jokes. But, he also sent out these two tweets:

"Amazing how few hours can change a life, but moments are out of time. A moment? Think about yours."

"Interesting how life changes when it becomes quantifiable and finite."

That day, he also posted "If This Were Your Last Day Alive, What Would You Do?" a final blog entry that was divided into multiple sections, including "Things I Am Proud Of," "Things I Regret," and "Stuff I Would Like to Have Seen in My Life."

Although his frustrations are clear in some of the things he lists in all of his categories -- in "Things I Regret," he includes his divorce, leaving Canada, moving to Los Angeles, and "my inability to conquer my alcoholism..." and "...the things I did because of it." -- this post, which went viral after his death, is filled with more joy than anything else as he recounted his unconditional love of comedy and the personal and professional highlights of his 63 years of life.

But, because he'd lost so much of what he'd loved -- personally, professionally, and regarding his health -- and, as he wrote, because he regretted "that I am no longer able to withstand any more of life's pain," he was leaving his life.

That same day, December 23rd, he also tweeted: "If you for some reason care about me. Stop caring."

That tweet was followed by: "I've missed you all. I love all the wonderful people I follow and even the odd people who for some reason follow me."

And, then: "I wouldn't bother following me, but here's a lot about me if you care." At the end of this tweet Joe included a link to his final blog post.

Before those December 23rd tweets, he hadn't tweeted since December 9th.

On December 10th, he had tweeted: "Compassion is the greatest virtue. It liberates art and prevents harm."

Joe had been in the hospital in November and December and had only tweeted sporadically during both months. On December 2nd, in response to tweets asking how he was feeling, Joe explained in a tweet addressed to me and Lisa Pepper: "Your caring really warmed my heart. I'll be out soonish. This relates to toxic poisoning I had a while ago."

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, on December 24th, Joe tweeted: "Godbye."

Was this a typo? Did he mean to type "Goodbye" or is it a play on words? This tweet also ends with a link to his final blog post.

He followed that tweet with this one: "The Comedy Network video intro for our successful pitch to the CRTC." At the end of the tweet Joe included a link to a video.

Joe Bodolai's final tweet, his final public communication, also on December 24th, is puzzling: "When people tell you to 'dream' to make my life better, I'd say 99% of them have never been beaten and robbed."

That was Saturday, Christmas Eve.

On Monday, December 26th, hotel room service staff found Joe's body at 1:30 pm PST.

While others were toasting Christmas with eggnog, Joe Bodolai drank a lethal cocktail of anti-freeze and Gatorade.

Joe's death was widely reported by print, broadcast, and online media in the U.S. and Canada, including Variety, the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, The Huffington Post, CNN, CTV News, The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.

The Hollywood Reporter noted a huge turning point in Joe’s life: "...listed among his many regrets leaving Canada for Hollywood after being passed over in 1996 by then CTV topper Ivan Fecan to run the broadcasters Comedy Network, a cable channel he helped launch..."

In an article on CTV News' website, John Brunton, president and CEO of Insightful Production Company in Toronto, and a friend of Joe's, described him well: "He was very, very well read, he had a broad scope of reference, he loved politics, he loved comedy, he was a terrific writer, and one of the funniest guys I ever knew in my life."

In The Globe and Mail, John Barber noted the profound emotional reaction of Joe's friends and colleagues: "...in Canada, where Bodolai enjoyed a rich and varied career mentoring some of the country's finest comedy talent, his death has touched off a wave of fond reminiscence and deep regret about the tragic limits of a creative career."

Barber continued: "Helped by the wide circulation of the remarkable last post Bodolai left on his blogs, his death has emerged as an object lesson about life in an impossible profession."

In The Globe and Mail article, Joe's friend and colleague, comedy entrepreneur Mark Breslin said he was "not entirely surprised" that Joe had taken his own life. "He was a pretty unhappy guy, and I think he was a victim of the ageism in the comedy business and show business, especially in Los Angeles....You have a man who's really talented at something and then he's given nothing to do. That can only be the start of something bad."

The Globe and Mail article also quoted Joe's friend John Brunton, a Toronto television producer, who said that Joe "had a phenomenal career in Canada...He was an all-star. But as he got older, some of that started to fade. And that's hard for anybody to cope with."

The Toronto Star reported that Joe's video of comedian Sarah Hyland was viewed 3.2 million times on his YouTube channel, and that he was mentoring her at the time of his death. She told The Toronto Star: "He should be remembered as a very talented, loving man who adored his family and had a deep respect for comedy and everything that went with it."

The press coverage of Joe's death showed the consensus among his colleagues and friends: Joe was one of the good guys in the entertainment industry.

Unfortunately, that quality is even more rare than great talent.

When the news broke on Twitter, it spread quickly as Joe's shocked followers mourned (see the sidebar for blog posts from Tara Dublin, Joel West, Mike Cane, and Anna Gustafson), and his final blog post went viral.

I knew Joe from Twitter, where we tweeted to each other often about writing and comedy. The Joe I knew turned out to be the same Joe those who knew him well would talk about after his death. The Joe who was brilliant and funny. The Joe who had a love affair with comedy. The Joe who couldn't help but support people whose work he admired and whose taste in humor he shared. I was lucky to be one of those people.

Years ago, when I was covering health and science, I interviewed an alcoholic who had told a friend, "You can't save me from myself."

Whatever people are battling -- addiction, depression, other mental health issues, or anything else -- the frustrating, horrible, sad truth is that we can't save them from themselves. Only they can do that.

And, far too often, they can't.

What made Joe one of the good guys was that he had a gentle soul.

But, that's also part of why he could no longer withstand the pain.

It's not surprising that the legacy of that gentle soul reaches far beyond entertainment.

A young man in Australia (on Twitter with the name @TabloidJunk), who didn't know Joe and had never heard of him until he died, was so moved by Joe's last blog post that he recorded a vlog -- a video blog entry -- that he titled "Joe Bodolai and My Alcoholism."

He understood Joe's pain, and he hoped that what he had to say would help others understand it, too.

That's Joe's legacy: Helping others, and inspiring them to help, too.

Rest in peace, Joe.

With plenty of laughter.

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As a journalist, columnist, essayist, and media critic, Nina L. Diamond's work has appeared in many publications, including Omni magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and The Miami Herald.

She was a regular contributor to a number of "late, great" national, regional, and newspaper Sunday magazines, including Omni; the award-winning South Florida magazine; and Sunshine, the Ft. Lauderdale (now South Florida) Sun-Sentinel's Sunday magazine.

She covers the arts and sciences; the media, publishing, and current affairs; and writes feature articles, interviews, commentary, humor/satire/parody, essays, and reviews.

Ms. Diamond is also the author of Voices of Truth: Conversations with Scientists, Thinkers & Healers (Lotus Press) and the unfortunately titled Purify Your Body (Three Rivers Press/Crown/Random House) , a book of natural health reporting which has been a selection of The Book-of-the-Month Club's One Spirit Book Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club.

For its entire run from 1984-1998, she was a writer and performer on Pandemonium, the National Public Radio (NPR) satirical humor program, which aired on WLRN-FM in Miami.

She has appeared on Oprah, discussing the publishing industry, but, in a case of very bad timing, that appearance was two years before her first book was published.

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Follow Nina on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/@ninatypewriter

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Read some of Nina's previous Much Ado About Publishing columns:

Be Careful or You'll End Up In My Novel

The Joy of Obits

Apocalypse Fatigue

 

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