In 2010 I visited Asheville, North Carolina, to cover an inaugural film event called ActionFest, inspired by Chuck Norris and co-founded by his brother Aaron. For three days in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, audiences turned out to see movies Chuck Norris was in, movies Chuck Norris liked and movies that as far as I could tell had nothing to do with Chuck Norris but that made people spew Chuck Norris Facts anyway.
Having just turned 70 and endured more above-the-neck roundhouses than a human head was built to endure, the real Norris was slowing down and not a major presence at the festival. The people lining up for all-day passes didn’t care. To them Norris wasn’t a personality — he was an idea. And this was an event designed to celebrate that idea.
Norris died last week at 86. Mostly obituaries dutifully cited his long career. In fact it unspooled in three
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