'A Knight's Tale' cast

In a sense, this is a tribute to Heath Ledger. Like a lot of people, I was shocked and sad to see him die so senselessly and so young. But more than that, this is a tribute to a very special and personal movie for me, and given the circumstances of Ledger's passing, it seemed as appropriate as ever to draw this now. For me, there was no Heath Ledger. Their was only William Thatcher/Ulrich von Liechtenstein, squire turned knight by necessity and cunning who, along with some very close and colorful friends, fought for his destiny to the soundtrack of the best rock songs the 70's had to offer. "A Knight's Tale" was not a hit when it came out in the summer of 2001. It did, however, strike a chord with my friend Pat and myself. We were bonding through a very difficult time, and this movie came along, provided us an escape, and instantly became an anchor for our friendship, something we could relate to, laugh at, quote and re-quote. This little movie that the ticket-buying populace at large seemed to hate meant everything to us, and still does. So you can imagine how hard it was for us when Heath died. For my part, I was never as involved in any other Ledger role as I was with "A Knight's Tale." But losing the star of "A Knight's Tale" was painful enough. So for the memory of Heath I submit this small tribute to my most favorite of his movies, but just as significantly, for my best friend Pat, with the comfort of knowing that though Heath is gone, this movie is immortal, and we'll always have it to remember our own bonds of friendship and to remember him.