Dr. Mel Goldstein passed away on January 18,2012. The much loved weather forecaster was a Connecticut fixture for many years. There was nothing he seemed to love more than wild weather. Even when his home was devastated by Hurricane Irene, Dr. Mel did not rage against the wind.
Why am I telling you about Dr. Mel? While his death is a loss for his family, friends, and TV viewers, his life has been a gift to the world. Ever passionate, ever inspiring, Dr. Mel received a diagnosis of melanoma sixteen years ago. He was supposed to die. He could have died. He might have died. But Dr. Mel was not your average cancer patient, and that’s what you need to know about him.
Not only did Dr. Mel go on and survive that melanoma, he didn’t quit there. He wrote “The Idiot’s Guide to Weather” and “Dr. Mel’s Connecticut Climate Book”, donating proceeds to cancer research. He took that diagnosis and defied it to the best of his ability.
Maybe it was his love of weather that inspired him to overcome the odds. Whether it was a massive blizzard, a powerful electrical storm, or a shore-wrecking hurricane, Dr. Mel was fascinated by nature’s power, and he always brought that passion to his weather forecasts. He seemed to respect Mother Nature while still understanding the impact of her devastating blows for those unfortunate enough to be in a storm’s path.
What Connecticut loved best about Dr. Mel was his genuine enthusiasm for all things weather. Sincere, smart, and savvy — that was Dr. Mel Goldstein. He was the antithesis of the usual TV weather man, and you could tell that just by looking at him. This was not a slick guy in an Armani suit, reading a teleprompter, with perfect teeth and Hollywood hair, worrying about the November ratings. Dr. Mel was more like your high school science teacher, down-to-earth and real, slightly geeky because he never met a storm he didn’t love. He had a life-long romance with the science of weather and he wanted you to love it every bit as much as he did. I suspect his wife, Arlene, didn’t resent his other mistress, Mother Nature. They seemed to fit together as a couple, and when she spoke about her husband, she was not just his loyal caregiver. She was his biggest cheerleader.
It was that genuineness and sincerity that viewers in Connecticut loved about Dr. Mel. He was a real human being, with a real human heart. It was hard not to love this piano-playing man. He was like no other. He was Dr. Mel.
As his family and friends mourn the loss of the man himself, Connecticut mourns the loss of a beloved weatherman. But the world mourns the loss of an inspiration for cancer patients. He was more than his disease. It did not define him as a man. He lived his life to the best of his ability under difficult conditions, continuing to embrace opportunities to pursue the things he enjoyed. He saw a storm and knew that when the worst was over, there would be sunshine again, even if there wasn’t a rainbow with a pot of gold. He sowed the seeds of hope for every cancer family and encouraged us to believe that it’s never over until the fat lady sings. The fat lady sang on January 18, 2012. But even after she finished the last note of her aria, it was not truly over, for we will keep the sweetness of Dr. Mel’s song in our memories. His legacy will live on in cancer research and in the hearts of those whose lives he touched by being a passionate and compassionate man.
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