Earlier today, my esteemed colleage Scott Von Doviak sent me a link to the USA Today obituary of one Fred Knittle, who died on New Year's Day in Northhampton, Massachusetts at the age of 83 after a short battle with cancer (and a longer one with congestive heart failure).

Had he passed away at the start of 2008, it's possible his obituary would only have appeared in The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, but thanks to the alternately wrenching and life-affirming documentary Young@Heart (which ranked number one in my Best of 2008 Top Ten), millions of people beyond Knittle's circle of friends and family had the opportunity to discover the ordinary, extraordinary retiree's dry wit and deep, soulful baritone.

The two above-linked obituaries do a fine job eulogizing the World War II vet and seeming sweetheart of a guy, so I'll just pay tribute to the man with one last encore of the heart-breaking, show-stopping Young@Heart performance of Coldplay's "Fix You" that brought Knittle to late-breaking fame in our collective pop culture consciousness.