What makes Bob Dylan heavy is not just his output, which is prolific; and not just his influence, which is outsize.

What makes Bob Dylan such a heavy writer is his modesty, even humility, as well as his wisdom and good humor.

I will always be grateful to my wife, Barbara, for so many reasons, including her stroke of genius in introducing me to Dylan’s music.

It is perfectly fitting that Barbara, who, as Dylan would say, “gives me everything and more,” and I got married on May 26, 2001, only two days after Bob’s 60th birthday, although we were unaware of that at the time.

I serenaded Barbara at our wedding, not with “From a Buick 6” but with “She Belongs to Me,” also one of Dylan’s early tunes; and she sparkled, as she always does, even if she did not actually wear an Egyptian ring.

As for Bobby, I will always be grateful to him too.

He took the time to care about and praise a young writer, who was just a few years removed from the psychiatric ward.

All these years later, as Barbara and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, I would like to wish a happy birthday to the voice of the generations.

Happy # 75, Bob!

No one may ever match Shakespeare, but you, Bob, are the champ. I won’t limit you to any weight class. You have graced and enriched our lives for 50 years and more, and your voice will reverberate over the ages, for eternity.

That is the heaviest compliment of all.