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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Polkadots2021 · 27/07/2021 07:21

@LadybugsUnite

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
When you read a lot by a writer you really do get to know them in a way. Writing is such a deeply personal thing so in a way you did really get to know a part of her very well. And with suddenly no more books you couldn't continue that link. I think what you're feeling is very normal.
ThumbWitchesAbroad · 27/07/2021 07:30

@IHateCoronavirus

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
What a comfort - to think they maybe went hand in hand across the black sands, him telling her stories to keep her company. Thanks
Tlollj · 27/07/2021 07:33

I still miss PD James and Ruth Rendell.

Mummyoflittledragon · 27/07/2021 08:00

@IHateCoronavirus

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
Out of all the comments, here, this has brought me to tears. Bless your dd Flowers.
BraveBananaBadge · 27/07/2021 08:58

Glad I found this thread as I'm still struggling with the death of a musician I loved, and it's been nearly six months. I'm still listening to, watching performances and reading about them every day. There's some obvious reasons why it's hit so hard but for it to go on like this is so odd. I've never known a loss like it.

the80sweregreat · 27/07/2021 09:40

I was so sad when George Michael died.
I played ' listen without prejudice' on Boxing Day and shed a tear. I never met him , but I loved his songs and his voice and it seemed such a waste to die so young.
Authors, like song writers, you feel you get to know through their work and a connection to them ( odd as that may sound!) their words can become a back drop to your life.

LadyJaye · 27/07/2021 09:42

When STP died, I cried for the first time since my father died in my teens (my then-boss also made a disparaging comment about 'some old fantasy author', and I disliked him intensely thereafter).

I think it's perfectly natural to be upset when an author you're especially fond of dies - they created a world that has become very real for you.

GNU.

Cleebope2 · 27/07/2021 09:47

I felt like grieving when the amazing author Helen Dunmore died in 2017. Her writing was sublime and really moved me. But the legacy that artists leave behind means that they never really leave us and I have loved rereading her work.

AppaTheSixLeggedFlyingBison · 27/07/2021 09:53

She was very young OP so that will be adding to your upset. But yes, I'd say it is normal with authors. They have more of an attachment than other celebrities, especially if their books helped us in some way

weebarra · 27/07/2021 09:54

You're not silly!
I absolutely felt the same about STP and also Anne Mccaffery.

Annie1290 · 27/07/2021 09:57

@FlappyFish

Lucinda Riley? Her Son is apparently going to finish the Pa Salt book.

I get it. Even if not her. When you connect with a book or writer it is real.

I was shocked to hear she'd died. And very selfishly wondered about the last book. Hadn't heard her son was planning to finish it!

DriveMeCrazy1974 · 27/07/2021 10:11

I felt exactly like this when Sue Townsend died. I felt (and still do) absolutely gutted that I'd never find out if Adrian Mole ever found true happiness. It just shows how good these authors are that their deaths mean so much to us.
I also felt very similar when Penny Vincenzi died - I loved her books.

DriveMeCrazy1974 · 27/07/2021 10:16

@Rhannion

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.
@Rhiannion - I often message or Tweet my favourite authors after I have read their latest book. Most of them are really happy to hear from their fans and nearly always respond. I've been emailing several of my favourite authors since 1999. They always seem genuinely pleased to hear the praise.
dottiedodah · 27/07/2021 10:18

I was truly gutted when Dolores O Riordan from the Cranberries died in 2018 .She was inspirational and I felt that I "knew" her somehow.Does that make any sense? Zombie was such an emotional song and she was just amazing .At 46 gone far too soon .

vampirethriller · 27/07/2021 10:21

I was upset when Sue Townsend died, I grew up reading Adrian Mole. I still feel sad.

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 27/07/2021 10:27

Alan Rickman, Victoria Wood and Neil Peart affected me like this. And Freddie Mercury, but that was such a long time ago.

The weirdest one was Alice Martineau. DH had had a CD of hers for a long time and I “discovered” it a few years ago just after we were married. I love it, and one day idly googled to see what she was doing and discovered she’d died from CF in 2003. Oddly, shortly afterwards I heard a radio interview with her brother whilst driving and had to pull over for a sob. She’d been gone about 12 years by then.

Mochudubh · 27/07/2021 10:31

@Rhannion

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.
I loved Diana Norman/Ariana Franklin books too. I think I heard somewhere that her and Barry's daughter was continuing the series.

I also enjoyed The Richard Straccan series by Sylvian Hamilton (Christine Green) who also sadly died before she could complete the series.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/483091.The_Bone_Pedlar

billy1966 · 27/07/2021 10:32

Completely normal reaction to anyone who added pleasure and enjoyment to your life.
Flowers

MummyBobbles · 27/07/2021 11:35

I was distraught when Terry Wogan died. I felt like a beloved Uncle had passed suddenly and I couldn't stop crying. My husband thought I'd lost the plot. He was such a big part of my childhood and something about his voice and presence always made me feel safe and loved. I'd be back in my childhood kitchen listening to him play Chers Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves, whilst eating my Weetabix before school. Loved that man!

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 27/07/2021 11:49

@WiseUpJanetWeiss - I still tear up whenever I think of Freddie Mercury dying. He's my one big regret - that I never got to see him play/sing live.

At least I did get to meet STP, at the first ever Discworld Convention, back in 1996. He said I made a good Magrat. Still not sure if that was a compliment or not... Grin

I agree that it's natural to feel sad when someone who has had a big impact on your life and emotions dies - because you do feel like you know them, just a little bit, from their work. Thanks to everyone who feels these losses.

Ladydriver110 · 27/07/2021 12:20

I was unbelievably sad when “Ed McBain” (Evan Hunter) died. I’d been reading the 87th Precinct series for over 30 years and I loved the characters so much, it felt like a bereavement for them because I’d never hear more of their lives. I knew the author’s death was coming because he’d been open about his cancer diagnosis and it was obvious he knew he was on his way out as he tidied up some long-ongoing storylines in his last books. I bought the last-ever 87th Precinct novel as soon as it was published but it was YEARS before I could bring myself to read it. (but when I did I thought it was pitched perfectly).

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