We Lose Andy Griffith

Publicity photo from the television program Mayberry R.F.D. Pictured are Ken Berry (Sam Jones), Buddy Foster (Mike Jones), and Andy Griffith (Sheriff Andy Taylor). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Andy Griffith died this week. He was our guardian in the TV show “The Andy Griffith Show” and then our protector in “Matlock.” He played “Andy” in the Andy Griffith show for 8 years during the 60’s. Through his part in the show he became an all-American icon, a loved and trusted hero of any-town USA. What could be as sweet and endearing as all the “Andy’s” that existed across our vast land who made us feel safe and comforted. Sadly, we lost Andy and with him the innocence of small town America as we knew it.

Back when I lived in Cold Spring, New York in the 90’s, a town of about 2 thousand, there was an expression the locals used, “people think this is Mayberry.” It was the tail end of the days when one could leave your door unlocked or give complete strangers a ride home who just stepped off the train stranded with luggage. Cold Spring was too small for a taxi service.

We are now in the age of “The Busy Trap” as the New York Times reported last week to much circulation and buzz. Gone are the days of “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Misfits,” where life was so deliriously simple and slow that if you bounced a check your “bad deed” was posted on the front page of (for example) my former daily “The Putnam County News and Recorder” (for real), even in the early 90’s.

The security of small town America has slowly dissipated over the years. This past week as we lose Andy Griffith, our most beloved guardian and friend for generations, we have lost one of the last surviving vestiges of that era. It’s all in our memory and digital footage now.

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• Andy Griffith Dead at 86 (gawker.com)