An Uncertain Future: Homage to David Bowie

Thoughts on the death of David Bowie (1947-2016), by Chicago author June Skinner Sawyers. An Uncertain Future Street art in Miami, June 2015. Photo by June Sawyers. We weren’t prepared. ‘A horrible shock,’ one friend said. The very weekend that his final album was released, he was gone. Just like that. The reviews the morning after his death were ecstatic, if ironic. ‘Bowie remains focused on the future and all its uncertainty,’ wrote Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune. The New York Times remarked, ‘It’s a good time to be David Bowie.’ So much more to look forward to, so much more to be done. Blackstar, Lazarus, a forthcoming tribute at Carnegie Hall. Instead the Man Who Fell to Earth gave us a parting gift, a music video about mortality and the end of life. Always ch-ch-changing, never keeping still, even at the end. Chicago author June Skinner Sawyers has published many books on music and travel, including works on Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Bruce Springsteen.