Filmmaker David Lynch passed away last week at the age of 78. I just have to say that 78 kind of feels young to me for someone to die these days, but that’s actually about four years past the average American male’s lifespan. I guess it seems like with most celebrities, you hear of them living into their 80s and beyond more often. Still, 78 is a good age; he certainly lived a full life. I wouldn’t say that I was a huge fan of his work. IMDB says he directed 111 films and TV episodes during his lifetime, and I’ve only seen a small portion of them, but what I did see made an impression on me.

My first exposure to David Lynch’s work was when I saw his film, THE ELEPHANT MAN, with my parents when I was a little kid, and it kind of traumatized me at the time. The lead character was such a tragic figure, and I felt so bad for how cruelly he was treated during his life. It was even worse when I later discovered this film was based on a true story. A few years later, I would watch his film DUNE with my mother. I was already a big fan of science fiction, although I hadn’t read the novel this film was based on yet, so I was interested in seeing this film, but it bored me. To this day, I barely remember anything about this film; I just know that I wasn’t impressed. However, I was too young when I saw either film to pay attention to things like who directed them, so the name “David Lynch” didn’t register with me then.

That changed in 1990 when David Lynch co-created a TV series called TWIN PEAKS. This film quickly and briefly became a cultural phenomenon. I was instantly hooked by this quirky soap opera. I not only watched the first season, I was getting all the extra material and merchandise that I could. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes, “Diane”…The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper, Welcome To Twin Peaks, An Access Guide To The Town, and probably some other stuff that I don’t recall now. The point is, I was all in. The first season of Twin Peaks was the highlight, both creatively and culturally. The show meandered during its second season, but I stuck with it to the very end, with its cryptic cliffhanger.

A few years later, there was a theatrical film, Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me, which was curiously a prequel to the series instead of the sequel we fans wanted. I dragged my girlfriend at the time, “Emma,” with me to see. She’d never watched show, so she was bored out of her mind, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

So now I was aware of who David Lynch was, and I made it a point to look up some of his more famous films, like ERASERHEAD and BLUE VELVET. Unfortunately, neither film lived up to the hype for me. But I did enjoy WILD AT HEART, with Nicolas Cage.

I’ve written before about my teenage years as an aspiring rapper. I remember once writing a rap song called “A David Lynch Movie.” The premise about how I liked this girl, but her behavior was so confusing and weird that she reminded me of the plot of a David Lynch movie. Get it? Well, I thought it was clever, but I don’t remember the lyrics now and I don’t think I ever finished it.

A few years ago, we finally got a Twin Peaks sequel in the form of a special third season, but that did not live up to my expectations in the slightest. Nevertheless, I thank David Lynch for the memories that he did give me. R.I.P.