June 8, 2018

In Wake of Celebrity Deaths, People Are Sharing Stories About How They #LiveThroughThis

Acts of kindness can help with everyday struggles.

Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMA Wire; Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

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On Friday, the world was shaken for the second time in one week by a celebrity suicide. Anthony Bourdain, the 61-year-old chef, was found dead in a French hotel room this morning. His untimely death came only days after that of Kate Spade, the New York fashion designer, who died by suicide in her apartment. She was 55.

Their deaths have sparked an outpouring of public grief, dotted with reminders of the well-documented suicide contagion effect: One death can offset others, particularly a celebrity’s. Conversations have also turned to the importance of support networks—comfort found in friends, family, therapists, and even good Samaritans.

Journalist Ana Marie Cox posted on Twitter Friday morning, sharing a story of her own struggle with depression and a stranger’s small act of kindness that helped her. She clarifies that she is not suggesting kindness is enough to address mental illness, but it can help people get through the day.

Users responded immediately. Here are a few of the stories they shared:

https://twitter.com/JerseyGirl981/status/1005087231990738945

https://twitter.com/realcoolskin/status/1005090034243002369

If you are considering suicide, please consult these resources:

Crisis Text Line: 741741
US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
Trevor Project LGBTQ Lifeline: 1-866-488-7386
Veteran’s Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 or text 838255

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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