RIP Chuck Norris

America's bad-ass, Chuck Norris, died today at the age of 86. He is a cultural icon. Everyone knows who he is. The jokes about him are legendary. But I realized today that I don't actually know much about him. Most of what I know is through cultural osmosis, memes, and reputation. I know he was an actor and martial artist who made some action movies back in the 1970s and 1980s, and made the TV show "Walker Texas Ranger". I didn't watch his movies or TV shows. I never watched him teach or compete in martial arts. His involvement with Bruce Lee was either before I was born, or when I was too young to understand.

While the people who he mattered to mourn his loss, I think about what it means to not share a cultural touchstone. We all experience cultural icons, but we don't all share the same ones. Cultural icons are separated by generations, interests, personal tastes, media channels. The loss leaves some people in tears, while other people ask themselves "what's the big deal?" We experience cultural figures unevenly. Some celebrities are huge, but maybe not to you or me.

Take time to mourn his passing, if that helps you. He was clearly important to a lot of people. I just wasn't one of them.