07/02/2019 Goodbye Leonard, you brought us so much light https://theconversation.com/goodbye-leonard-you-brought-us-so-much-light-68674 1/4 Author Jen Webb Director of the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research, University of Canberra Academic rigour, journalistic flair Goodbye Leonard, you brought us so much light November 11, 2016 5.52am GMT Leonard Cohen has died, and the lights have gone out all around the world. His death shouldn’t have come as any surprise: as he wrote to his muse Marianne, just weeks ago, we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. But I didn’t think he meant quite that soon. I thought “well, 80 is the new 60”, and that for years yet he would be helping me see the world through his unique gaze. Readers and listeners and fans often speak about the celebrities who captivate them as though they have a relationship with them; as in some ways they do. Of course it is synthetic, but it can feel remarkably real, as does my not-actually-there relationship with Leonard Cohen. I never met him, never spent time drinking and talking with him. And yet listening to him or reading his work feels like sharing a conversation with someone I know. Leonard Cohen in 2012 accepting an award for his song lyrics. Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters November 11, 2016 5.52am GMT Goodbye Leonard, you brought us so much light Leonard Cohen Live: Suzanne (Rare Footage) Leonard Cohen Live: Suzanne (Rare Footage) Leonard Cohen Live: Suzanne (Rare Footage)