Colin Jost remembers Hal Willner: "Hal never forgot how weird and fun and random and misanthropic SNL was in the 70s"

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"One of the last things Hal Willner sent me was this photo of him from the first year of SNL in 1975," the "Weekend Update" co-anchor wrote in a photo tribute to Willner, SNL's longtime sketch music coordinator, who died Tuesday of coronavirus complications. "He said he was the youngest person working at the show when it started (versus this year when he was 'the fourth oldest'). Hal never forgot how weird and fun and random and misanthropic SNL was in the 70s and he was one of the last people who kept that spirit alive at our show. But he wasn’t some crabby old guy who hated what 'the kids' like. He loved talking about new bands and new movies and any ideas that felt fresh. He was a sweet and inclusive person who made you feel cool when you got to hang out with him. He knew the most interesting people in New York and they all loved and admired Hal. The second photo is Hal making a Keith Richards puppet look at his Julian Schnabel sweatshirt, which is pretty much Hal in a nutshell. He sent that to me with zero context. Hal, I love you and I miss you."

ALSO:

• Seth Meyers pays tribute to Willner: "He was the show's spiritual connection to the past"
• SNL photographer Marry Ellen Matthews shares a photo she took of Willner last month and video of him working on a sketch
• James Corden pays his respects to Willner, whose widow Sarah Rogers is a Late Late Show producer