Having just written about Discovery Channel’s show PitchMen and Billy Mays and Andrew Sullivan, I’m shocked and saddened by the news that Billy Mays has passed away at the age of 50. It is so soon after his pitchman colleague from the Boardwalk days, Ed McMahon, had passed and you can’t even measure the few days that have passed between each of the recent celebrity deaths in the last two weeks.

There is not much news yet on what could have caused his death with the exception of a thread of speculation that perhaps a rough US Air landing yesterday on his return trip home could have caused an unknown injury.

There of course will be a hole in the infomercial scene and we don’t know if it will ever be filled as he was one of the lat pitchmen of his kind. We can only wonder at what Billy Mays and Ed McMahon are trying to sell in heaven.

While Billy Mays is not the King of Pop or a Charlie’s Angel he is most definitely a part of American pop culture and will be missed in many circles.