Missing, or not missing (Mort Sahl)

I'm a little too young to have been around in Mort Sahl's heyday, and I didn't even know that Sahl was still around, much less living in my local area - that is, until a reference to Sahl turned up in my local paper, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

The 81-year-old comic, known for his satirical stand-up in the 1950s and 1960s, was reported missing by his wife around 5 p.m. Friday. She said she had not heard from him since Wednesday, Davenport said.

Sahl called police once he learned he had been reported missing.

Read the entire article here. At the time the article was written, the reason for Mrs. Sahl's belief that Mr. Sahl was missing remains a mystery.

Sahl still attracts followers, as this list of photographed attendees at a Sahl 80th birthday bash demonstrates:

(Back Row: Kevin Nealon. Second Row: Richard Lewis, Jay Leno, Norm Crosby, Hugh Hefner, Ross Shafer, Drew Carey, Albert Brooks. Front Row: Shelley Berman, Jonathan Winters, George Carlin, Mort Sahl, Harry Shearer. Missing from the photo: Bill Maher, Jack Riley, Paula Poundstone.)

Yes, George Carlin was there, in some ways an heir to Sahl. As Yogi Berra would have said, Carlin must have made that appearance before he died.