Week 2: "The Last Days of Brother Ray" David Ritz

An extremely powerful article.  This was written by David Ritz, the man who worked with Ray Charles to write the autobiography, Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story . It begins as an ode to Charles. Ritz completely idolizes Charles. He begins this work protrayig a man without fear, who is willing to take life for all it is worth.
" ' As long as I am with this man', I said silently ' God will not dare touch me. God will  dare not touch Ray. Ray doesn't fear God. If anything, God fears Ray.'" Ritz clearly expresses Charles' strength and prowess.  But, his writing begins to shift as he experiences an aging Charles. No longer as arrogant and unrepentant , Charles begins to become introspective, and unloads to Ritz. we finally see a person behind the giant, a man facing mortality.

  This was a huge article for me to read. My first and only experience with Ray Charles is on  Sesame Street.I can remember being a little child sitting on my living room floor and watching this old man play the piano ( Little Richard was my favorite though. He played the piano in a bathtub!!!!! )
   It was interesting to see the different shades of a human. My impression of Ray Charles was a sweet old man who could play the piano. The first half of the article painted him as some arrogant jerk. with some higher power. I was really disgusted by his womanizing tendencies and the fact that " he wasn't even certain of how many children he had fathered". Charles is heralded as one of the great music masters and yet he seems to ignore key facets of the human experience.  I think that great music would both be dynamic and meaningful.  Honestly, I was disgusted at his behavior. How can someone like that move me? But then the narrative shifts, and I see the mortality of a person. Despite his exploits, he is still faced with his own death. " 'I'm weak,' he said, 'I'm getting stronger'". These were the same words uttered by my Grandpa a month before he passed.
 So I decided to listen to " Drown in my Own Tears". It my seem cliche, but I cried.
   Ray Charles was a human being, who surpassed insurmountable odds while carrying hurt, regret, and so much more.