R.I.P. Dennis Hopper, Convert

Yesterday I jokingly tweeted "that's two" in reference to the recent deaths of Art Linkletter and Gary Coleman.  We tend to look at things in threes, especially deaths and so I commented on that wondering about guesses as to who's next.  I really didn't have any names in mind, but I did just learn of and am saddened by the death of Dennis Hopper. I guess that's three.

Dennis Hopper was one of my favorite actors.  He had a unique style and acting talent that made him stand out.  As an artist, I appreciate that.  For whatever ethereal reasons, I loved his movie "Blue Velvet" because it was so cutting edge.  "Easy Rider" will know doubt get repeat play now on our cable and satellite programming.  It's not his only film, of course, and in my opinion it may have type-cast him somewhat, but it didn't define him forever.  A talented actor indeed, and I will miss him.

What many may not know about Hopper is that he was a Conservative convert.   "In the '60s he marched with Martin Luther King and protested the Vietnam War. But did you know that he is now a political conservative and has been since Ronald Reagan?" wrote the New York Post in 1994.

ADD Moment: Martin Luther King was a Republican.

I love how in his acting Hopper can play the hippy/odd-one-out/creative-type/intellectual villian and deep inside he was committed to the of small government and the small-r republican ideals. I can identify with all of those roles, hence my self titled nick name, Conservative Hippy-chick. Hopper was my  mother's age at death, only 73.  He converted (my mother did not), true to the Churchillian axiom -- just as I did. And for that, I will miss him even more.

Rest in Peace, Conservative Hippy-man.