Who will be missed the most from 2004?

2004 had its share of losses, and one of the topics that I failed to include in the 2004 Brutally Honest Awards is a category of "Biggest Loss".

Now some people would like to think that the death of former president Ronald Reagan was the biggest loss for the year, but I really disagree with it. Yes, Reagan was a great president. He appealed to the public in a way that not even Bill Clinton ever could. That's why he was known as "The Great Communicator".

But here's the thing: Reagan had been in seclusion for almost a whole decade after it was revealed he suffered from Alzheimer's Disease. While it was still sad that he would eventually die, his passing was more or less expected.

The biggest real loss, though, is someone whom you wouldn't expect to die either from age, disease, or sheer recklessness. And there's only one person who really fit the bill for that in 2004: Christopher Reeve.

Although seriously paralized, Reeve still remained active, not only in the TV series "Smallville" playing the mysterious mentor to the future-Superman, but also on stage. (Of course, it should be mentioned that Reeve is best known for playing Superman in the four movies in the late 1970's and 1980's.) How he died, as well as the fact that he DID die, came as a complete shock and surprise to everyone who saw him as a man who continued to fight the paralisys that kept him in his chair for the past decade, as well as serve as an inspiration to others like him.

So that's my pick for the biggest loss in 2004.