Let me start by saying I never paid a great deal of attention to either Kate Spade nor Anthony Bourdain. I knew who they were of course and that they were eminently successful people. Or so it seemed.
Within 72 hours of each other two people who by all appearances had everything in the world decided to end their lives by hanging themselves.
It is entirely possible to own a piece of Manhattan, but this does guarantee one will also own peace of mind.
Some suicides are explainable. There were those in the WTC on September 11, 2001 who face the choice of jumping or burning to death. There are those who are diagnosed with a terminal illness who prefer to end things right then and there. There are those who commit suicide because of a financial loss and are unable to face the burden. Then there are those who commit suicide after committing a great wrong such as murder.
Then there is just plain mental illness. Of course not everyone with mental illness commits suicide much less expresses suicide ideation. But some people just can't cope even if they do manage to attain fame and fortune.
In 2005, I spent a Saturday night at a club called Harper's Ferry in the Allston/Brighton section of Boston to watch a Beatles cover group called Beatlejuice. But this was no ordinary Beatles tribute group. The lead singer was Brad Delp who topped the charts in the 1970's and 1980's with the rock group Boston. Delp was in top form and seemed on top of the world. I remember several young women jumping up on stage to join him in song. I was so envious of him. He could have spent the night with all of them if he wanted.
Two years later, he would take his own life leaving a note which read, "Mr. Brad Delp. J'ai une ame solitaire. I am a lonely soul." His tense relationship with Boston bandmate Tom Scholz was certainly a factor though Scholz disputed this and filed lawsuits against both Delp's widow and The Boston Herald but the Courts ruled against Scholz while the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case. Whatever reason Delp saw fit to end his life, fame, fortune and success weren't enough to keep him alive.
So if fame, fortune and success aren't enough to keep a man alive then what is?
Faith? Confidence? Reason? Fear? Hope? Love? Acceptance?
Each of us must answer that question for ourselves.
It is a shame that Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain, Brad Delp and people the world over both rich and poor cannot find a reason to go on. R.I.P.
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