I learned only yesterday that Shirley Temple, the iconic child
actress, died earlier this week at age 85. Reports on her death were
easy to miss. I went through my usual scan of various websites and saw
nothing. I fortunately caught a buried “Shirley Temple, R.I.P.” by a
writer at a political website.
I was dismayed by the sparse reaction to the loss of this woman who
lived a great American life. Had Shirley Temple died 50 years ago, or
even 30 years ago, the country would have stopped. People everywhere
would have paused to give Temple her due. It would have been the lead in
every newspaper.
