It’s a little hard to write about death on my 41st birthday and I haven’t been blogging much lately because I’ve been in overwhelm running WNST, but the death of wrestling manager Capt. Lou Albano is certainly one more passing of an era of my childhood.

I spent many, many Saturday afternoons watching the “guiding light” — as he used to refer to himself, but Capt. Lou Albano lived an interesting life in the spotlight of wrestling and entertainment.

The news was first reported by MTV about an hour ago. Here’s the wiki on Albano:

Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009^[2]), better known by his ring name Captain Lou Albano, was an American professional wrestler, manager and actor. With an over-the-top personality and a penchant for boisterous declarations, Albano was the epitome of the antagonistic manager that raised the ire of wrestlers and incited the anger of spectators. Throughout his forty-two-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and 4 singles competitors to championship gold. A unique showman, with an elongated beard, rubber band facial piercings, and loud outfits, he was the forefather of the 1980s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Connection. Collaborating with Cyndi Lauper, Albano helped usher in wrestling’s crossover success with a mainstream audience. Capitalizing on his success, he later ventured into Hollywood with various television, film, and music projects.

We’ll be talking about his life at length at 3 p.m. when Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun and Ring Posts joins us.

As Albano said about himself many, many times: “Always imitated, never duplicated” and alas he was correct.

R.I.P. Capt. Lou!!!