Thank you, Mr. Galbraith.

It was the last day in April and I was clicking around the BBC looking for something to post on at my blog. Anything. And I stumbled upon your obituary. I was not, in the least bit, saddened. Skimming the article I came across a few of your more memorable quotes:

"Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists."

"Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite."

And of course: "It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought."

I was mildly interested. But far from saddened. I made a mental note to pick up your most loved/hated work: The Affluent Society. It was on my list, just below The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (which I honestly only jotted down cause of the cool sounding title).

At the time I was just wrapping up Jack Kerouac's super-undeniably-classic masterpiece: On the Road (a book that I must now confess, having just read yours, was an utter waste of my time.)

Before that, I had been on a reading tear for a few months and was beginning to tire. Really tire. At the end of April, the prospect of picking up a 300 page Econ essay sounded about as fun as getting a botched root canal at the Case Western Reserve School of Dentistry.

But the library dragged their feet getting Salman Rushdie; and so I started flipping through your book half-heartedly.

And when I finished it, when I put it down, I was saddened.

Thank you, Mr. Galbraith. You will be greatly missed.