I want to honor the memory of Richard Pryor by saying that I was fortunate to have spent some time with him last summer at his home. I even got a chance to tell him how much I loved him and thank him for always being there for me with his comedy.

I also made him laugh, reminding him of some of his own material - doing it for him and telling stories about other comedians (he loved that.)

Before anything good happened to me, Richard was inspiring me to dream and to want to make people laugh - and that I could use my pain and turn it into comedy.

He lived about half a mile from where I was working and every day before and after work I drove by his house hoping to see him. The closest I ever got was to see the tail-end of a canary yellow Rolls Royce going into the driveway.

He made me think my life might be worth talking about, and that I didn't need to be ashamed of where I was from or how I lived.

There are a lot of comedians working today, and a lot of the young guys think that they are cutting-edge and take risks with their comedy. They do not and will never be able to come close to what Richard was doing. He didn't use profanity as a punch line, it was the language of the people he was taking about. That's keeping it real. I am sure without question - I watched "live in long beach" a thousand times and could recite all the material word for word to this day.

When I taped my "Why You Crying" special in February of 2004, I made a point of dedicating the show to Richard (he had taped his "long beach special" in the same theatre 25 years years earlier.) The flowers you see on the stage were sent to me by Jennifer and Richard Pryor.

Jennifer Lee Pryor was the love of Richard's life. She was amazing with him, all you had to do was see them together and it was clear how deep their love was and will always be. I have met very few people as strong as Jennifer and my thoughts and prayers go out to her and everyone who cared for Richard.

If you were a fan of Richard's please go to richardpryor.com and leave a message out of respect for him and the joy his comedy brought to you.

I will always be inspired by Richard and honor him and his work. He will continue to live in me and in all of us because love doesn't die. I love you Richard Pryor - I always have and I always will. You made a young chicano boy think he could do something better with his life and made me not afraid of being dark! You will always be with me and I will carry you with me everytime I step on stage.

As Mudbone would say:
"Keep some sunshine on your face!"

George Lopez
Los Angeles, California