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Original poster

My favourite author just died

71 replies

LadybugsUnite · 26/07/2021 22:34

I feel so very sad about it, and also stupid for feeling so sad about someone I don’t even know? She announced a few months ago that she wouldn’t be writing anymore due to health reasons. That was awful because there were series that I love that will never be finished. But now she’s dead, and I should have realised it was a possibility, but I’m just so disproportionately upset about it. She was very active on social media, and some of her family joined in, I just keep thinking of them and feeling so bad for them. Is this a natural response? I’ve seen people distraught when celebrities die, but never really understood it

OP posts:
sazza76 · 27/07/2021 00:24

YANBU
I never understood it until it happened to me. I think with any artist whether that be an author, singer etc their art becomes a part of our lives, sometimes over decades. Artists can inspire us, comfort us, help us escape, seem like they are talking to us and sometimes grow up with us and then suddenly they are gone and it really can feel like you’ve really lost someone from your life. There’s nothing wrong with that, and you can’t help the way you feel. It’s grief, and i’m sorry you’re feeling that way OP.

Rhannion · 27/07/2021 00:34

I was really upset when Ruth Rendell died and when Ariana Franklin who also wrote under her real name, Diana Norman, wife of Barry Norman the film critic died I was gutted as she didn’t get the chance to finish her series of wonderful books.

PastMyBestBeforeDate · 27/07/2021 00:36

I'm not over Terry Pratchett dying. It was a whole world going with him.
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Dinnaehinksae · 27/07/2021 00:38

I seen the news OP. Its such a shame for the community as a whole, I think it ripples through when something like this happens. I don't think many here are actually fans of indie authors though. She was a great talent and will be a huge loss.

Rhannion · 27/07/2021 00:46

Don’t feel stupid OP it’s normal to feel the loss of someone whose work you loved. I feel very sad for Barry Norman and his family when Diana Norman died as they seemed like a very happy family and she seemed like a lovely woman.
I think we grow attached to the characters they created and feel “ cheated “ that we didn’t get the chance to tell them how much we enjoyed their work.
I sometimes think we should tell our favorite writers how much their work means to us when we can.

RightYesButNo · 27/07/2021 01:14

I think @PastMyBestBeforeDate made such a great point: when you lose a creator, especially an author, it’s a whole world dying with them. As you said, OP, there are books now that will never be finished by the author whose death is saddening you. Robert Jordan’s fans got a very rare experience by having his series finished and in a way that really respected the world he built. I have no idea what will happen to George R. R. Martin - he has two or three more books to write in Song of Fire and Ice, and I wouldn’t guarantee he can finish them before life catches up with him. But yes, we use books to escape and certain authors are more adept at creating plot lines and worlds that suck you in. Losing all of that in one fell swoop is heartbreaking.

thinkingaboutLangCleg · 27/07/2021 01:20

I didn’t know there were so many Terry Pratchett fans on MN. I still miss him, and wish he hadn’t had to live through such grievous mental deterioration.

Tubbytele · 27/07/2021 01:47

I felt like that when Chester from Linkin Park died

Dustyblue · 27/07/2021 02:39

YANBU, I cried when Sue Townsend died. She was apparently writing another Adrian Mole and we'll never get to read it.

gwenneh · 27/07/2021 02:47

@Itawapuddytat

Sorry to hear, OP Sad The one I've mentioned is Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, she died a few days ago Sad. The author of the Keltiad Books. Very sad to hear a few other writers have recently passed away Sad

... I understand how you feel. I still feel very sad when I think of Carrie Fisher - who was not only a great actress and person, but also a talented writer, I have very much enjoyed reading her books.

Oh, no! Did she really?

I keep hoping for the Keltiad in Kindle form.

LunaNorth · 27/07/2021 02:53

I sobbed like a baby and got very, very drunk when Prince died.

I sobbed when David Bowie died, too. I still can’t listen to Black Star Sad

Artists communicate with us on a deep level. Of course we’re going to have an emotional response when they die.

AMCoffeePMWine · 27/07/2021 02:58

YANBU.

When Carrie Fisher died, I was shocked too. I always thought she was great in everything, and her books were hilarious and insightful.

The hardest for me was Kirsty McColl. I not longer live in the UK, and her death didn’t make the news in the US. I found out a couple of years later, and I was shocked, especially they way she died (I think she saved her kid before being killed in a boating accident). Gutted for her family.

PluggingAway · 27/07/2021 03:07

I cried when Terry Pratchett died. His books were very special to me as a child because they were pretty much the only real connection I ever had with my autistic brother.

Your reaction is normal. Someone can mean something to you without you having to know them personally - I think authors especially can have this impact because you feel that you are hearing their voice and thoughts when they write.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 27/07/2021 03:27

@Nousernameforme

I stood in the kitchen and proper sobbed for STP, his words got me through a lot it was over a year till I could read the shepherd's crown. It's the only death that's ever effected me.
I still haven't read it. Just can't. And yes, I was so sad that he died - still am :(
lollipoprainbow · 27/07/2021 04:51

@username18702 same, I sobbed and sobbed and felt generally strange and I couldn't think why, like you it was part of my childhood gone.

shiningcuckoo · 27/07/2021 05:18

I cried at Kirsty McColl too. And Bowie. And George Michael. And Terry Wogan. And Seamus Heaney. Just a cry baby, me.

lollipoprainbow · 27/07/2021 05:22

Also Victoria wood such a shock and I loved her also Paul Ritter from Friday night dinner.

IHateCoronavirus · 27/07/2021 05:32

Terry Pratchett died on the same day as my DD. Oddly it brings me comfort, all my DCs love to read/be read too. I like to imagine she has the best story teller with her now. Lucky DD StarStar

herecomesthsun · 27/07/2021 05:59

how sad and also lovely to think that's a comfort Flowers

WhereTheFuck · 27/07/2021 06:13

I cried when Amy Winehouse died. Also sad when Elizabeth Jane Howard and Ruth Rendell died, but I think Amy Winehouse hit me much harder because she died so tragically young. It's normal OPFlowers

ShadowInVain · 27/07/2021 06:35

I was very sad at the death of Caro Fraser last year. Reading 'A Touch of Silk' and knowing there'd be no more Sad. She died after a long illness and it was obvious she knew 'A Touch of Silk' would be her last, as she (very satisfyingly) tied up all loose ends from the long-running Caper Court series.

Cactuslove · 27/07/2021 06:42

@ladybugsunite oh I love CM Owens- it really is a shock isn't it. Your reaction is so normal. Reading is such a great form of escapism especially has been during this last year. What a shock. I'm going to pick on eof her books to read I think.

newnortherner111 · 27/07/2021 07:08

It is a natural reaction. Celebrate all the pleasure their writing gave you, perhaps consider a donation to any charity they supported.

Original poster
LadybugsUnite · 27/07/2021 07:09

@Cactuslove I think it’s time for me to start a re read too.

OP posts:
MichelleScarn · 27/07/2021 07:11

Sir TP- Always in the overheads.
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