Punch is dead.

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Sometimes you meet people you should have never met without the help of hazard. 20 years ago I was working in the same public building than a theater company. The toilets were shared among users of the building. I met Alain in front of an urinal : "May I introduce myself," he said, "I am an archeologist of the glitter." I responded : "Pleased to meet you. May we shake hands later ?" and we laughed. He was the director of the theater company and a sort of whimsical genius wanting to mix theater and puppet theater. He was writing plays full of double meanings, enjoyable by both children and adults. Maybe because we were sharing a common sense of humor we became friends, and I have often be invited for dinner. Those who were speaking here about kindergarten and zoos should have been there : I have seen a pataphysician flaming with a philosopher, an honorable senator swearing like a trooper, and some weird mass hysteria scenes ending with laughter or tears around his table. Alain was a friend of Federico Fellini who wanted to be a puppeteer before becoming a filmmaker. Fellini has been often announced by Alain, but he died without being seen, though I met several interesting relationships of Fellini there, among them the brothers De Marchi -- http://www.fratellidemarchi.it/index_eng.htm --. I had no news of Alain since months : his phone box was full and he was no more responding to emails. Today I read an email sent by a common friend quite two weeks ago -- maybe have I too many email addresses ? -- : she was announcing his death. It is difficult to imagine that a person like Alain could die -- BTW, you did me a bad joke : have you forgot the preface that you promised to write for me ? --. I was looking online today and I found several obituaries. This short one was published in the city where he died : http://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lanouvellerepublique.fr%2Fvienne%2FACTUALITE%2FInfos-Departementales%2FAlain-Le-Bon-clown-et-comedien&act=url The end, saying that testimonies were sent from Prague is amazing : in 1968, when the May Revolution ended in France, Alain went in Czechoslovakia and met his first wife in August in Prague near a soviet tank. The world was not large enough for him. Good bye Alain. Have you met accidentally people offering you an opportunity to rub shoulders with a community you should have never crossed without them ? NB : You should have met them elsewhere than in front of an urinal to be qualified to respond.