I feel I just cannot avoid observing the untimely death of Carrie Fisher, whose passing today has saddened me much more than the score of other celebrity deaths that have marked 2016. As an ageing Star Wars tragic I had a deep soft spot for her charms and spunk, more so in light of all the challenges she faced in life. It seemed she had only recently hit her stride as a pop culture elder, and now she is no more. RIP Carrie.