Becker brought cool to outcasts and made mythic loserdom OK

Walter Becker passed away last Sunday, Sept. 3.

Most people reading that probably think “That’s sad, but who’s Walter Becker?”

Those of us in the know, well, we know. Our response would be “Have you heard of the rock band, Steely Dan?”

That would likely bring an “Oh, yes, I love” such and such a song, usually something off their 1977 platinum selling — over five million copies — classic “Aja,” or maybe their biggest hit, 1974’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” Someone a bit more into music might add in tunes like “Reeling in the Years,” or the hypnotic “Show Biz Kids.”

There are many tributes t...