I was saddened to hear of the passing of Harold Ramis overnight. To say that the work of Ramis played a large part in my childhood growing up in the 80s would be an understatement.

It is a fact that before I was a fan of Star Wars (A New Hope came out in the year of my birth so I only discovered it on video) I was a fan of Ghostbusters and indeed the original Ghostbusters is the first movie I can recall ever seeing.

The impact of Ramis’ movies though does not stop there: I vividly recall that the first movie I went to see the cinema was Ghostbusters 2 and I know for a fact that the fest actually date I ever went on was to see the brilliant Groundhog Day (what can I say: I was a late bloomer).

Possibly most importantly, Caddyshack remains for me one of the funniest movies I have ever seen and seeing it for the first time (and, I am site nearly 100 times since) sowed the seeds for my infatuation with the game of golf.

Not only were these movies there important parts of my life, simply, they were, and remain, just fantastically written and performed pieces of cinema. Ramis the actor and Ramis the writer / director was one of the best at his craft.

I will be celebrating the life of Harold Ramis with a marathon of his movies over coming nights: starting with Caddyshack and Stripes, working through the Ghostbusters duopoly into Groundhog Day and finishing with two character roles with As Good As It Gets and Knocked Up.

In the meantime I simply say: thank you Mr Ramis! I am sure my childhood was all the better for the part your movies played in it.