It's a sad day.
LOS ANGELES — Acerbic standup comedian and satirist George Carlin, whose staunch defense of free speech in his most famous routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died.
Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. He was 71.
UPDATE: I think Carlin would have appreciated the childish tone of this alternate lede:
Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.
Did he ever do an entire "routine" about drugs? I can't think of a single one. And "dirty words"? Is this reporter an infant? I half-expected the next line to mention that Carlin always said "please and thank you" when company was over.
Seriously, anyone who thinks he was just about dirty words missed out on one of the greatest observational thinkers -- philosophers -- of our time.