So the breaking news of the morning is of Johnny Carson's passing at the age of 79. He passed away of emphysema, something my Mom also suffers from.

Watching the news coverage, I'm stuck with the fact that either he was an extremely difficult person to get to know, or that pretty much everyone famous is busy this Sunday morning.

FoxNews has Jerry Lewis and Phyllis Diller talking about him. Neither had seen him in 30 years. But as Jerry said, those 4 weeks back in the 50's were a dream.

On CNN, it's Joan Rivers. She can't even hold back the fact that he obviously did not care for her at all. They try to coax her to say nice things, but she refers to the fact that they haven't spoken in years. She tried to get in touch, but he didn't return calls.

So, it's been clips of the Tonight Show. Mostly Bette Midler stuff. The last monologue. Nothing new, or so far, anyone other than his nephew having any real connection to him. Words like reclusive, shunning the spotlight and others are being used.

Is that a bad thing? Maybe he was a smart guy. Surrounded himself with those that truly cared for him as an individual, rather than an icon and fuhgettabout the rest. When he left TV 13 years ago, he didn't owe anyone a thing. He was more than allowed to fade into the horizon, which he did.

He passed away surrounded by his family. And that, I think, is a great way to go. By those that truly love you.