R.I.P. Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite, the 85-year old actor best known for his role as John Walton on "The Waltons", passed away at his home near Palm Desert, California. In his role on The Waltons as the father of a large family in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains during the Great Depression, he could not have been a better role model for being a loyal husband and great father to his children. It's too bad Hollywood is incapable of producing shows like The Waltons today that actually teach us how to live good, honest lives while entertaining us. In his private life, Waite didn't fare as well as a husband and father. He had three marriages, two of which ended by divorce. I didn't agree much with Waite's politics. He twice ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the congressional seat once held by the late Sonny Bono despite the fact that his TV show was a favorite of most conservatives in this country, including President Ronald Reagan. Waite, a White Plains, New York native, was a Yale graduate who became an ordained Presbyterian minister before he took up acting.