By JIM FITZGERALD, Associated Press Writer
MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - Actor Christopher Reeve, who soared through the air and leapt tall buildings as "Superman," turned personal tragedy into a public crusade, becoming the nation's most recognizable spokesman for spinal cord research — from a wheelchair. Reeve went into cardiac arrest Saturday while at his Pound Ridge home, then [he: omission] fell into a coma and [he] died Sunday at a hospital surrounded by his family, his publicist said. He was 52.
The first ¶ introduces Reeve as subject. Note how simple an appositive is ("Actor, CR"), saving a lot of words on a relative phrase: "who is an actor"). The only other comment I'll make is that the writer might have made a 2d ¶ at "Reeve went into cardiac arrest," etc. but chose not to. Repetition of Reeve's name would have established coherence.
His advocacy for stem cell research helped it emerge as a major campaign issue between President Bush and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry. His name was even mentioned by Kerry during the second presidential debate Friday evening.
Here a simple possessive pronoun links ¶2 with ¶1.
Reeve, left paralyzed from the neck down after a riding accident and who pushed for funding to help others like himself, was hospitalized the following day. In the last week Reeve had developed a serious systemic infection from a pressure wound, a common complication for people living with paralysis.
Repetition of Reeve's name establishes coherence in this new ¶. Then there's paraphrastic repetition (saying the same thing in different words) at the end: "for people living with paralysis."
Dana Reeve, Christopher's wife, thanked her husband's personal staff of nurses and aides, "[and thanked: omission] as well as the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."
Another possessive, links this ¶ with the last ¶. Here the appositive form is reversed; but the logic is, "Christopher's wife, Dana Reeve," etc.
Reeve's life changed completely after he broke his neck in May 1995 when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Va.
Yet another possessive linking of ¶'s.
Enduring months of therapy to allow him to breathe for longer and longer periods without a respirator, Reeve emerged to lobby Congress for better insurance protection against catastrophic injury and to move an Academy Award audience to tears with a call for more films about social issues.
Despite the first clause, the subject is "Reeve," repeating his name for coherence.
"Hollywood needs to do more," he said in the March 1996 Oscar awards appearance. "Let's continue to take risks. Let's tackle the issues. In many ways our film community can do it better than anyone else. There is no challenge, artistic or otherwise, that we can't meet."
Here a quote is used for a new ¶. "Hollywood" is a synonymic replacement for the Academy Award audience of the previous ¶, while "Oscar Awards appearance" is a paraphrastic replacement. "Let's" is repeated once (used twice) and includes Reeves and that Hollywood community, as does the plural possessive, "our." "Challenge" is a head noun, under which is included "artistic [challenge] or other [challenges]."
He returned to directing, and [he] even returned to acting in a 1998 production of "Rear Window," a modern update of the Hitchcock thriller about a man in a wheelchair who becomes convinced a neighbor has been murdered. Reeve won a Screen Actors Guild award for best actor.
Pronoun replacement refers back to Reeve in previous ¶'s. "Reeve" is then included in the head noun class of "best actor."
"I was worried that only acting with my voice and my face, I might not be able to communicate effectively enough to tell the story," Reeve said. "But I was surprised to find that if I really concentrated, and just let the thoughts happen, that they would read on my face. With so many close-ups, I knew that my every thought would count."
Another quote ¶. "Face" and "voice" belong to the class of "Reeve" (parts of the member of that class). "The story" refers to Rear Window. "Every thought" also belongs to the head noun of "Reeve."
In 2000, Reeve was able to move his index finger, and a specialized workout regimen made his legs and arms stronger. He also regained sensation in other parts of his body. He vowed to walk again.
A time change changes the ¶. Reeve is the head noun for parts of his body mentioned afterwards, thus referring back to Reeve. "Walk" refers back to "move [his index finger] and "regained [sensation]."
"I refuse to allow a disability to determine how I live my life. I don't mean to be reckless, but setting a goal that seems a bit daunting actually is very helpful toward recovery," Reeve said.
Another quote, another ¶. These quotes are coherently at lower levels of generality: "He vowed to walk again" in last ¶ is taken to a lower level of specificity in this ¶. The words rubricated above are all related.
Before the accident, his athletic, 6-foot-4-inch frame and love of adventure made him a natural, if largely unknown, choice for the title role in the first "Superman" movie in 1978. He insisted on performing his own stunts.
Another time change, another ¶. In context, "choice," "title role," and "Superman" are synonomic replacements.
Although he reprised the role three times, Reeve often worried about being typecast as an action hero.
Conjunction ¶. However, I don't like separating this ¶ from the next one, especially since there's only one sentence in this ¶. "Role" and "action hero" are synonymic replacements of Reeve, whose name is both repeated and replaced by a pronoun.
Though he owed his fame to it, Reeve made a concerted effort to, as he often put it, "escape the cape." He played an embittered, crippled Vietnam veteran in the 1980 Broadway play "Fifth of July," [he also played] a lovestruck time-traveler in the 1980 movie "Somewhere in Time," and [he also played] an aspiring playwright in the 1982 suspense thriller "Deathtrap."
Here, lower levels of generality illustrate the topic idea ("escape the cape"). Elliptical series enforces coherence (see bracketed omissions), as does apposition such as "1980 movie, Somewhere in Time).
More recent films included John Carpenter's "Village of the Damned," and the HBO movies "Above Suspicion" and "In the Gloaming," which he directed. Among his other film credits are "The Remains of the Day," "The Aviator," and "Morning Glory."
A ¶ of time again ("more recent"). The film titles belong to a subset of the class "recent films." "Which" is a pronoun replaced of one film (In the Gloaming). "Other film credits" is a synonymic replacement of "films" in the first sentence, while (again) the films belong to a subset of "other film credits."
Reeve was born Sept. 25, 1952, in New York City, son of a novelist and a newspaper reporter. About the age of 10, he made his first stage appearance — in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Yeoman of the Guard" at McCarter Theater in Princeton, N.J.
Here a simple repetition of Reeve's name starts a new ¶. Note how the essay is organized, from present to past. We'll study organization ideas later. But organization can be from front to back, back to front, least to most important, above to below, past to present, present to past, or other variations of time and space order. "Reeve" is replaced by "son," while "his . . . stage appearance" is replaced by "Yeoman of the Guard."
After graduating from Cornell University in 1974, he landed a part as coldhearted bigamist Ben Harper (news) on the television soap opera "Love of Life." He also performed frequently on stage, winning his first Broadway role as the grandson of a character played by Katharine Hepburn (news) in "A Matter of Gravity."
Another time ¶ ("After"). "Bigamist" refers back to "part," as does "role" and "grandson."
Reeve's first movie role was a minor one in the submarine disaster movie "Gray Lady Down," released in 1978. "Superman" soon followed. Reeve was selected for the title role from among about 200 aspirants.
Possessive noun changes subject ("first movie"), for new ¶. "Minor one" refers back to "role" (repeated later) as does "Superman," while "200 aspirants" is the main class of which "Reeve" is a member, thus referring back to him.
Active in many sports, Reeve owned several horses and competed in equestrian events regularly. Witnesses to the 1995 accident said Reeve's horse had cleared two of 15 fences during the jumping event and stopped abruptly at the third, flinging the actor headlong to the ground. Doctors said he fractured the top two vertebrae in his neck and damaged his spinal cord.
Repeat of Reeve's name introduces new topic: his sports activities. "The actor" is a synonymic replacement of "Reeve."
While filming "Superman" in London, Reeve met modeling agency co-founder Gae Exton, and the two began a relationship that lasted several years. The couple had two sons, but [they] were never wed.
Repeat of Reeve's name, linking him to girlfriend; then, by cause-effect, children. "Reeve" belongs to the bigger class of "two" and "couple," as well as "relationship."
Reeve later married Dana Morosini; they had one son, Will, 11. Reeve also is survived by his mother, Barbara Johnson; his father, Franklin Reeve; his brother, Benjamin Reeve; and his two children from his relationship with Exton, Matthew, 25, and Alexandra, 21.
Time ¶ again ("later"), with repeat of Reeve's name making obvious coherence. Note that repetition is the basis of all art, including repeating sounds in poetry, repeating shapes in painting, repeating phrases in music, etc. The Bible would be dull without repetition.
No plans for a funeral were immediately announced.
This is a "generic" ending, like a "moral" is a generic (kind of) ending for a fable, thus getting a ¶ to itself. Another example is a movie or television review, with the final ¶ reporting theatre location and time or television channel and time. "Star Wars is now showing at the Bijou Theatre on Main Street. First showing starts at 10:00 a.m." "The Jay Leno Show can be seen Monday to Friday evenings starting at 11:30 p.m. on Channel 4."
A few months after the accident, he told interviewer Barbara Walters that he considered suicide in the first dark days after he was injured. But he quickly overcame such thoughts when he saw his children.
¶ of time ("after"). But this ¶ is poorly placed. The possessive pronoun is too far from the last mention of Reeve's name and the ¶ mixes up too many time periods, adding confusion. "Thoughts" refers back to "suicide."
"I could see how much they needed me and wanted me... and how lucky we all are and that my brain is on straight."
Quotation ¶. Lower level of generality from last ¶. "They" refers back to "children" in previous ¶. "We" refers back to "Reeve" as a member of the class of "lucky" people. But this ¶ too is out of place; although it would have been effective in the middle of the essay, it is too weak for an ending.
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