I just learned, as so many of you have, of the death of Rush Limbaugh. I don’t need to underscore what a great loss this is. We each have our own story of how we learned about his show, which for many of us was a revelation, and I will quickly tell mine. I was living in Japan in the early 1990s, a conservative isolated in my views both by geography, and by a media landscape that was a left-wing monoculture. But then I learned that the U.S. Military radio station was running, for one hour each evening beginning at 6: 00 p.m., a radio host named Rush. For the years that followed, and because I was not an earphone user, I rushed home each day after work like a lover to catch the show. Suddenly I was not alone.

Rest in Peace, Rush. And here are some words from Shakespeare, a eulogy from Cymbeline, to help sing you home:

Fear no more the heat o’ the sun,
Nor the furious winter’s rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
Fear no more the frown o’ the great;
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke:
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.
Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Fear not slander, censure rash;
Thou hast finished joy and moan;
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee, and come to dust.
No exorciser harm thee!
Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Nothing ill come near thee!
Quiet consummation have;
And renownéd be thy grave!