Fans leave flowers at the foot of Andy Griffith’s statue in Raleigh’s Pullen Park
Knowing this was coming doesn’t make it any easier. RIP, Andy Griffith: a North Carolina icon.
Andy Griffith’s broad shoulders carried a heavy load for more than 50 years. In 1960, he created an iconic fictional character so noble that today, church groups still seek moral guidance in Sheriff Andy Taylor’s every televised word, deed and gesture.
And over the years, when Griffith insisted that Mayberry, the perfect little town he invented, was absolutely not based on his hometown of Mount Airy, N.C., fans nodded, winked, said “Sure, Andy, whatever you say,” and went right on believing what they wanted to believe.
What they wanted to believe was that around the next bend or over the next hill was a place like Mayberry and a man as fair, wise and decent as Sheriff Andy.
Griffith died Tuesday at 86.
via North Carolina legend Andy Griffith dies at 86 – News – NewsObserver.com.