Thoughts on the Passing of Garry Marshall

So sad to hear of Garry Marshall's death. So glad I had the chance to hear him tell his funny stories (about everything and anything) when he was at Northwestern University recently, speak with him at dinner, and toast him -- I talked about how much a comforting part of our childhood his shows were for me and my siblings (we used to just zone out to Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, etc), how, as a 20something film student, the politics of his movie Pretty Woman bugged me until my wise sister Bec said “Dave, it’s a fairy tale; get over yourself” (Garry nodded); and I told him how as a father I still remember seeing The Princess Diaries with my daughter Raisa and how meaningful that was (he smiled). And I told him how weird and strangely wonderful I thought Happy Days was – when Fonzie walked onto the set and the action literally stopped as the audience applauded for what seemed like forever (he smiled broadly). In the 70s, Norman Lear challenged us. But Garry Marshall just offered us silly escapist fun. Hopefully he's laughing somewhere with Robin Williams, whom he had great stories to tell about. ‪#‎garrymarshall‬