Celebrities aren't supposed to die. I guess that's what it's all about, the search for fame and fortune -- especially fame -- so you can, in some way, live forever. Jerry Reed will live forever for me, and not because of his music. It was good, I'm just not a big country music fan.

No, Jerry won my heart when he climbed behind the wheel of that big rig in "Smokey and the Bandit," covered in blood after getting his butt kicked by a bunch of bikers. When he turned the wheel of the rig and aimed for their motorcycles, a grin as big as Tennessee broke out and earned my love forever.

Who doesn't love a good payback? Especially when it's packaged as cute as Jerry. Let everybody else swoon over Burt Reynolds -- Jerry's my man.

So it was a jolt to find out he died. People who are bigger than life aren't supposed to leave it.

It made me think back to other celebrity deaths that affected me. I remember when Elvis died, of course, and if I couldn't remember that, I could remember the vigils held in August at Graceland every year after, especially the four years I attended college in Memphis.

John Lennon's death hit me hardest, I think. My favorite Beatle by far, to have him die such a pointless, stupid, evil death made it that much worse.

I know the ones who truly die too soon -- Princess Di, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, John F. Kennedy Jr., James Dean, Curt Kobain -- seem more tragic than the ones who die in their later years, such as Jerry Reed or John Wayne, but the deaths of these older stars are no less tragic to those who love their work.

I cried when Jim Henson died. The picture, I think it was on Time magazine, of Kermit huddled in a director's chair with his head bowed, can still bring tears to my eyes.

When the voice magician of the Warner Brothers cartoons, Mel Blanc, died, my husband wore a black strip of mourning around his sleeve all day.

Another Warner Brothers genius, the one and only Chuck Jones, died within minutes of his biggest fan -- my oldest brother, Mike. I have no doubt, if there is a waiting room in the foyer of heaven, that Mike finally got to tell Chuck how much laughter he brought into all our lives.

No doubt, there are several greats waiting to welcome Jerry, from Hank Williams and Patsy Cline to Jim Reeves and Johnny Cash.

It's comforting to know, with modern technology, that big grin will never fade. I've got my CDs and DVDs and little bit of Jerry to remember.

That's a big 10-4, Snowman.