James Arness: Requiescat in Pace

For all of my childhood, James Arness, and the show he starred in, Gunsmoke, were a constant presence.  The television show, a sequel to the radio show of the same name, came on the air in 1955 and ran for 20 years.  I was born in 57 and graduated from high school in 75.  Each week my family would watch the show, even the reruns.  We  had a slight personal connection to the show, my grandfather, a shoemaker, making a pair of boots for James Arness to wear in his role of Matt Dillon.  Gunsmoke was a well made show with good plots, fine acting and above average writing.  It also was a skillful mixture of drama and comedy, with one or two of the episodes each season being almost completely humorous.  It was packaged as a western, but its focus was often on moral questions, and the lesson that I drew from them was that no matter how tough, dangerous or difficult, you always have to do what is right rather than what is expedient.