A fairly recent phenomenon is that we are mean to people in live and generous to them in death. Gerald Ford, who was one of the lesser respected Presidents in life, was compared to Lincoln in death. When Tony Gwynn dies, I heard a reporter say,"He was not only one of the best baseball players of all time, he was one of the best people of all time." I don't think there's a lot wrong with that, but maybe we should just be nicer to folks while they are alive.
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