2002-06-24
Caroline Knapp and Darryl Kile, R.I.P., posted at 11:25 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com This past weekend was one obsessed with death, particulary those who died before their time.I had learned about Caroline Knapp's death a week or so before, and it hit me pretty hard, but even moreso after I reread some of her work. She was an excellent memoirist - a writer who wrote about herself, yet made her observations and theses seem universal. I had read her terrific book Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between Humans and Dogs, which purported to be about dogs, but ended up being a book about how having a dog helps reveal a person's own inadequecies and emotions. It was a fabulous read - Knapp's writing is powerful yet succinct. After hearing about her death at the age of 42 of cancer, I was drawn back into the book - both her parents died of cancer, and she feared it - and went to Barnes & Noble and read her most famous work - Drinking: A Love Story - which chronicled her battle with alcoholism. I read about a quarter of it, and was thoroughly enthralled, but had to put it down in favor of the gym. $13.95 was too much to pay for such a scant memoir, I decided, but I'd like to find it at the book thing.
Knapp's death, like all deaths by famous people I know, interested me. I reread her dog book and seeked out her alcoholism book, because the idea of someone dead speaking to me intrigues me to no end. I feel like I have some sort of duty to read the books of the dead - especially the recently dead - because otherwise, it's like I'm ignoring their attempts at conversations. Knapp is the type of writer who makes you feel like you know her, so I felt like I lost someone I knew when she died so young. I felt the need to hear everything she had to say.
Later in the weekend, I learned of the death of Darryl Kile, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. I'd followed his career - the Tigers almost acquired him once - and felt a sting when I heard of his death. Although the cause of death was ruled a blockage of an artery, half of me is still hoping that the cause of it is steroids (artery blockage is a sympton of its use), so that baseball begins to get serious about this issue that is clouding over the sport. The other half of me, of course, hopes that the toxicology reports remain toxicity-free, so that Kile's memory does not become tainted.
Caroline Knapp and Darryl Kile, two famous people I've never met but have had an effect on my life, both died recently. May they rest in peace and continue to impact those that remain walking the earth.