My father called me in the middle of the day yesterday. Which was odd, because the only time he calls me midday is when something bad has happened. Last time, he told me that Anna Nicole Smith died. Yesterday he told me that Heath Ledger was found dead in an apartment in New York. He was 28.

Its always difficult when a friend or family member dies, but when its someone you only know from TV or in the movies it’s different feeling entirely, because you feel like you have seen them so much, it is like you know them but you can never really tell what’s going on in someone life—much less a celebrity.

A couple months back a childhood hero of mine Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son and went on to kill himself. Judging from what I saw on TV he seemed like an intense but nice guy. The image of him raising his son on to his shoulders when he won the WWE belt is still a fresh and disturbing scene in my mind in light of what ultimately happened.

It seems like no one in Hollywood dies of old age anymore, there is always some sort of drugs involved or violent twist surrounding their deaths. Brad Renfro a child hood actor was found dead a week ago in his apartment in LA.

You always hear stories about blues musicians going to the crossroads and selling their souls to the devil to be better guitar or piano player. It almost seems like the same process goes for fame in Hollywood. For anyone with hopes of making it in ‘the Biz’ tragedies like those of Anna Nicole Smith, Brad Renfro and now Heath Ledger should really make you wonder how far you have to go to make it and how much of yourself your are willing to lose in the process. Because in this day of age, poorly managed fame seems to be a death sentence.
—Donny Lumpkins