Sad news, as the world wakes up one Munchkin short this morning. Karl Slover – lead trumpeter of the Munchkin Band – passed away at the age of 93 yesterday afternoon. On a bright note, he died in Georgia, so he’s almost surely in a better place today. Among the hardest hit by the news was Gerry Sandusky, who for some reason felt a special connection to the Wizard of Oz and Munchkins.

“Those Munchkins really touched me as a kid, and I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to touch them back,” Sandusky was quoted as saying.

As you know, we have a special connection to Munchkins and the Wizard of Oz in theses parts too, because, like pretty much anyone who’s anyone, the author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum – was from here (or went to school here, or lived here for a while, or drove through here on the way to somewhere else).

At any rate, this is very disturbing news because, guess what? We’re down to three Munchkins here, folks, and these little buggers are irreplaceable. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna live in a world without Munchkins.