Only the Good Die Young: Robin Williams & Other Creative Geniuses Taken too Soon

I’ll never forget the first time I met Robin Williams. I was a teenager attending a taping of “Mork & Mindy” on the Paramount Pictures lot. He was incredibly gracious and encouraging to my 16-year-old self with aspirations of working in the entertainment business and making my dent in the universe.

Many years later, I crossed paths with him again when I was driving entertainment initiatives at Apple. He accepted our invitation to participate in a few marketing campaigns, and he even performed for our employees. He was always a delight to work with — no exceptions.

In 2003, Williams supported a fundraiser I helped organize. Through the Chairs That Care initiative, we asked celebrities to design a dining room chair that would be raffled off to support the Habitot Children’s Museum. Appropriately, Williams and his kids designed a chair entitled “Peace.”

"My daughter, Zelda, and her friends helped me with this chair. I let them pick the theme and create the design. 'Peace' and 'Time' are the prevailing elements, with the use of clock-faces and peace signs. We all worked together peacefully to design and color the chair. We hope that the eventual owner of the chair uses it with joy."

Even in this moment, Robin lived out one of his many memorable quotes: “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world."

Lessons From a Legend

Williams was known as a kind and generous individual — he was a true creative genius and a global inspiration. Now he’s gone, and the world is, without a doubt, a little darker and sadder.

During his life, he taught us to fearlessly put ourselves out there and take chances. And in his death, friends, celebrities, and fans have flocked to pay their dues. Among them, actor Peter Coyote penned a particularly poignant memorial letter:

“In the final analysis, what failed Robin was his greatest gift—his imagination,” wrote Coyote. “It might have reminded him that there is always something we can do. We can take a walk until the feeling passes. We can find someone else suffering and help them, taking the attention off our own. Or, finally, we can learn to muster our courage and simply sit still with what we are thinking are insoluble problems, becoming as intimate with them as we can, facing them until we get over our fear. They may even be insoluble, but that does not mean that there is nothing we can do.”

Actor Russell Brand wrote a beautiful commentary in The Guardian about Williams’ life and disruption in our world that moved me. These words stood out:

“Robin Williams could have tapped anyone in the western world on the shoulder and told them he felt down and they would have told him not to worry, that he was great, that they loved him. He must have known that. He must have known his wife and kids loved him, that his mates all thought he was great, that millions of strangers the world over held him in their hearts, a hilarious stranger that we could rely on to anarchically interrupt, the all-encompassing sadness of the world. Today Robin Williams is part of the sad narrative that we used to turn to him to disrupt.”

Other Late Creatives Who Defied Boundaries

Williams wasn’t the only creative genius who left us too soon. John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Steve Jobs all died much too young, but they generated ripples in the world’s timeline that are still being felt. We can learn a great deal from these geniuses about how to conduct ourselves in both life and business.

John Lennon

Lennon was the rebel who stood behind his cause. Although Lennon struggled with feelings of abandonment and anger himself, he comforted others through music. His songs preached world peace, and he demonstrated the importance of living life from an authentic place, speaking the truth, questioning authority, and standing up for what you believe in.

Michael Jackson

Jackson was a creative visionary who translated his art across multiple disciplines (music, dance, and video to name a few), dazzling and inspiring the millions of people he reached. From a very young age, Jackson had high standards for his life, and he taught us to not only set standards ourselves, but also to rise above them. The boundaries he broke consistently throughout his career and his giving heart were among his greatest legacies.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Hoffman brought depth and intellectual strength to his craft. Although his early roles were restricted to degenerates and misfits, he went on to play more complex roles. He moved and inspired us by completely immersing himself in each character. The New York Times hailed him “the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation.” He taught us to put all that we are into the things that we love and are passionate about.

Steve Jobs

No doubt, Jobs was a unique visionary. He desired to improve the quality of people’s lives and achieved wild success in at least two industries in the process. In infancy, Jobs was abandoned by both of his parents. According to author Walter Isaacson, his abandonment fueled a non-conformist nature in his childhood that was carried into adulthood.This non-conformist attitude allowed him to harness the power of a consistent vision through planned and well-executed goals. Jobs taught us that remaining committed to our vision — while staying open to tweaking and adaptation — is vital to our success.

Each of these creative geniuses left us too soon, but they all taught us that we create our own legacy, and that legacy should honor our unique presence. It’s important to live our truth, share our creative talents, pursue our dreams, and move beyond perceived limitations to honor our own unique presence and contribution to the world. It’s equally important to always seek to make the world a better place than we found it.

And if we’re lucky, we will inspire and change the lives of those we reach, or at least make their days a little brighter along the way. I’m so grateful that we got to experience Williams’ magic and gifts; they touched many of us deeply. Honestly, it feels like losing a dear friend.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A highly sought-after consultant, super-connector, trusted advisor, celebrity wrangler and thought leader, Kelli Richards is the CEO of The All Access Group LLC. She facilitates strategic business opportunities in digital distribution between innovative technology companies, talent & media companies, and brands in order to foster new revenue streams and deliver compelling consumer experiences. As a trusted advisor, she transforms the quality of people’s lives. Kelli is also the author of the bestselling e-book, “The Magic & Moxie of Apple – An Insider’s View.”

Photo Credits:

"Robin Williams 2011a "MyCanon CC-BY-SA-2.0

Rehearsing "Give Peace a Chance" Roy Kerwood CC-BY

"Michael jackson (el rey o dios).jpg" Alexjackson1398 CC-BY-SA-3.0

"Philip Seymour Hoffman 2011" Soerfm CC-BY-SA-3.0

"SteveJobsMacBookAir" Matt Yohe CC-BY-3.0