Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

In his great poem The Mower, Philip Larkin (1922-1985) wrote "Of each other, we should be kind/While there is still time," and two tragedies in recent days have brought home to us the urgency of his command. On Saturday 22 April, someone we knew suffered a heart attack while driving on the outskirts of Munich. Until that moment, he had been the picture of health and the epitome of fitness. By the time an ambulance arrived and the emergency personnel started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, nine minutes had elapsed. Although his heart restarted at once, his brain had been denied oxygen for too long. He never re-emerged from coma and died last Saturday. Alan was 43.

His legion of friends and admirers have set up a moving web tribute to his memory and a browse through the comments and photos re-enforces what Philip Larkin urges us to do with the days and friends we have: "Of each other, we should be kind/While there is still time."

The other tragedy that gives us cause to reflect involves Matt Zoller Seitz, our very favourite New York film critic. For input on a writing assignment about the film industry, we decided to contact him for a comment, and it was only then we learned that Jennifer Dawson, his wife and mother of their two young children, Hannah (8) and James (2), had died at the end of April. She was 36. As you will see from the comments on Matt's blog, her sudden death has been devastating.

So, regardless of how important that project is, or how essential it is to make that deal, remember the words of Philip Larkin today: "Of each other, we should be kind/While there is still time."