The little I knew Philip Seymour Hoffman was from my gym, of all places. A struggle radiated from him in all his best performances, in his relationship to drugs and alcohol, even while we tried (miserably) to get in shape on adjacent treadmills. What distinguished him most was how valiantly he took us along on that struggle. It feels disrespectful to how effectively he worked while he was alive to say “what a waste,” though many no doubt will be inclined to do so. But he will be greatly missed, and I feel sorrow that we’ve been reminded in such a tragic way that sobriety is nothing that ever can be taken for granted.
The little I knew Philip Seymour Hoffman was from my gym, of all places. A struggle radiated from him in all his best performances, in his relationship to drugs and alcohol, even while we tried (miserably) to get in shape on adjacent treadmills. What distinguished him most was how valiantly he took us along on that struggle. It feels disrespectful to how effectively he worked while he was alive to say “what a waste,” though many no doubt will be inclined to do so. But he will be greatly missed, and I feel sorrow that we’ve been reminded in such a tragic way that sobriety is nothing that ever can be taken for granted.