Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile

Roger Corman wasn't the father of modern Hollywood so much as the fun dad. He made money and made it to 98 which is the definition of a good career. His education included engineering: he knew how to build a movie.

Many moons ago I was invited to a Writers Guild roundtable interview with John Sayles and filled the typically New Zuld awkward opening silence by asking him what it was like working for Roger Corman. Sayles echoed what many have said: that it taught him a huge amount, and Corman advised him as soon as he'd learned it that he ought to be moving on.

Also leaving us recently was Mary Tyler Moore co-creator Allan Burns who got his start in animation. Burns wrote the famous MTM Chuckles episode but the one I loved was 'Better Late...' by Treva Silverman in which Mary and Rhoda, working late to update the station's obituary files, insert jokes into the biography of Minnesota's oldest man. I don't think there has ever been a better set-up.

Joel Gion's memoir is turning out to be very necessary in that it's a history you couldn't access anywhere else. A bigger band would have been chronicled by others and the story wouldn't be as interesting if it was someone smaller.