It's that time of year when old and famous people often die. Yesterday, we heard of the deaths of David Lynch and Bob Uecker, and the flags are still at half mast for Jimmy Carter's death.
The age of social media has made these deaths a more intimate part of our lives. There's something about connecting immediately with people who've heard the same news, and sharing your favorite moments, that deepens the impact. I mean, famous people died all the time in the '90s, but only in the most dramatic cases did we talk about their passing for more than a few minutes.
So for today's Open Thread, let's talk about which deaths of famous people affected you the most. I'd love to hear your more idiosyncratic responses—I mean, we all know Prince died too young!
The one that hit me in the gut was Adam Yauch, MCA of the Beastie Boys, who died at 47 in 2012, which was already not a great year for me personally for ... reasons. It was before the great wave of music die-offs, he was only five years older than me, and it felt like a great interruption. I'm a little older now and I now like it even less when near-contemporaries die.
As always, feel free to ignore this prompt and talk about whatever you want. This is your Open Thread after all.
