I just finished watching this Bobby Darin expose on PBS:

It’s odd where I find my inspiration in life. I found some reading about him. He died at the age of 37 from what is thought to be heart complications of rheumatic fever he had when he was 8. He believed his life would be short so he did as much as he could with it. He didn’t just sing pop songs, he made albums, wrote songs, and played several instruments – all well. (You should see him play the drums!) He even acted, which was something else he did well: “In 1963, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a shell-shocked soldier in Captain Newman, MD.”

He was talented, smart, likable, and quite resilient, especially after finding out that the woman he thought was his sister was actually his mother, that the woman he thought was his mother was actually his grandmother.

What drew me into all this was looking up this song, which I have always liked. Beyond The Sea:

I like this one too. Heartbreaking for me to watch it. He died just nine months later on 20 December 1973. He knew he was, as he said, “very sick” at the time. (He had heart valve replacement surgery in 1971.)