This is Mark Knopfler.
You may be familiar with his work when he was with the band, Dire Straits. But his career has gone way beyond the early 80's pop stage. In fact, his signature guitar style has made him a favorite for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And deservedly so, as he has brought his artistry to so many genres including jazz, country, acoustic and many more.
If you haven't guessed I'm a big fan.
The other day, while streaming some videos shot on his 2006 All the Road Running tour with Emmy Lou Harris (and if you haven't watched it, you should and you're welcome) I decided to open up another browser window and dig into Mark's background.
And much to my delight I discovered that he is Jewish.
More accurately, he is half Jewish. His father was MOT but his mother was not.
In other words, just like me.
Mark also describes himself as a non-believing Jew, an atheist, again, just like me. By the way, most Jews, schooled in a miserable history of pogroms, persecution, the Holocaust, and the paucity of good Jewish baseball players, have no belief in God.
Can you blame us?
But even more astonishing, Mark was born in Glasgow, Scotland. That makes him quite the rare breed -- a non-believing, half Scot, half Jew. In other words, that's my breed.
As I have discussed before, my mother was from Paisely, in the hardscrabble suburbs of Glasgow.
I'm no fanboy.
And there really is no point to all of this.
I just can't get over how much I have in common with Mark Knopfler.
Apart from Mark being monumentally talented and consequentially, monumentally wealthy, we have one additional major difference.
He's 68 years old.
I'm only 44.
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