This week, Larry L. King, author and playwright, passed away . This is not pundit Larry King of Larry King Live , and he just wanted to send out a tweet to make sure you appreciate the difference.
To be fair, some on the internet made an honest mistake when they began to mourn Larry King the host’s death. It would be like if we reported that Stephen King had died.
You might only read the headline before you run off to Twitter to declare the news, even though in the article, we made sure to explain that it was Steven King the hockey player, not the celebrated horror author.
Larry L. King was a lauded playwright and author of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” but you probably wouldn’t have heard of him unless you like plays, musicals, or old films.
So it was an honest mistake when tweeps all over the US turned to Twitter, sending out #RIP messages to the Larry King famous for his show and his suspenders.
Very thoughtful of you and all, but Larry King is alive and well, clarifying so with this tweet sent yesterday:
While I do appreciate the touching #RIP tweets – I am alive (and tweeting!) – however the playwright Larry L. King has recently passed
— Larry King(@kingsthings) December 21, 2012
There’s a good reason why Larry King is being such a gentleman about this. Interestingly enough, Larry King the talk show guy and Larry King the playwright were actually mistaken for each other frequently throughout both of their lives.
According to the playwright’s obituary on The Washington Post , a restaurant in Washington, D.C., would ask “Larry King ‘Radio’?” or “Larry King ‘Whorehouse’?” should either man attempt to make a reservation.
Be honest. Did you think that Larry King “Radio” had died?
