“This is very much like Cobain. I was thinking about that last night and was wondering why the loss of individuals such as Cobain and DWF hurt so much, and I think it has to do with their enormous talent, their courage to forge new ground, to be voices to articulate things for which we’ve only previously held a tenuous grasp AND, more importantly, because they seemed to see more clearly than most of us the truth of the world. They are our philosopher kings, our modern day prophets, the sort of individuals who make this world livable if only because they inhabit it. His spirit was enormous, and he was generous with it, and you loved him for it. He was like the big brother you never had, even if you had one. He was damned funny, and you loved him and you wanted him to love you. We needed him to keep on ticking, not for his literature so much, but for the security in knowing that if an intellect—a sensibility—as acutely aware, as acutely observant as his could see the truth of things and STILL find a way to keep on truckin’, then we could ALL keep on truckin’. I feel for his wife, for his family and friends, his students, and all the rest of us slubs left holding this great sad darkness.