I Am A Free Man

So here it is.... Celebrity Deaths always come in 3's.. and 2009 has kicked off with an incredible trio: First it was Ron Asheton... Then Bob Wilkins.. and the final member of the most recent trio is.. Patrick McGoohan. To be honest, I can't remember the last time a Celebrity Death Trio was made up of 3 people who all had a profound influence on me during my Salad Days.

Fuck... FUCK!


Another tremendous Geek icon gone.. As with all Sci-Fi Dork types, I was obsessed with The Prisoner as a kid, watching it religiously on the local PBS station. Then, when Iron Maiden released their song 'The Prisoner' it was one of those moments when my teenage mind realized there were others "out there" like me.. who had the same interests.. the same aesthetic... we were into the same things. Cue an epiphany.

In an Iron Maiden documentary there's a great segment where the band and their manager, Rod Smallwood, talk about having to call McGoohan to obtain permission to use an excerpt from The Prisoner as the intro to the song.

At that point in their career, Maiden were already big and were on the cusp of worldwide super stardom, and they were not easily intimidated... but it's fun to hear their manager tell how nervous he was calling McGoohan with the band all sitting around him... When he nervously told McGoohan what they wanted to do, McGoohan's reply was simply "DO IT..."

It must be noted that the band's interview segment was filmed on the actual Village set from The Prisoner and Bruce Dickenson wore a blazer like McGoohan's #6! The Geeks shall inherit The Earth.

Rest in peace Mr. McGoohan.

"I am not a number, I am a free man!"