There was a blog that I loved reading for the insights and for the photos. It was more than just strange observations or the daily diary of a life sort of blog. It actually explored thoughts and ideas and the photos included were so lovely that I'd usually save them to my hard drive as reminders of pretty things when work or life was getting to be too much.
On a whim today I decided to clean up my countless bookmarks and clicked through to Wit of the Staircase only to discover that the blog's author, Theresa Duncan, had died. That, in and of itself, was shocking - such a vibrant mind filled with beautiful ideas and visions gone and apparently by her own hand. And then I read the Wiki about her only to discover that her partner, Jeremy Blake, had also left the world one week after Theresa.
I have no idea why this had such an impact on me - such an impact that I immediately scurried to Blogger to post about it - but the fact that she posted the day she died is just puzzling. It's such a conundrum that these two people, seemingly so vibrant and alive, would create their own tragic demise that even the euologistic post on her blog didn't seem real. It was almost as if this was all an elaborate ruse and that they were hiding out somewhere far away. I suppose that the oddest element is that in all of her recent posts there seemed to be no hint, no intimation whatsoever, that she was a person on the edge. She posts of fashion, of Kafka, of Kate Moss, and there seemed to be nothing dark or sinister anywhere.
And then I started clicking links and discovered that although she loved perfume and writing, there were things far more sinister in her life and her mind and that paranoia seemed to be a constant companion. How sad that two seemingly amazing people could self-destruct in such a manner. I suppose that now they are free from the terror and confusion they felt although it's certainly left me wondering - if Theresa's entire blog was dedicated to the notion of the wit of the staircase, what would she say now?
Links to discover more:
Theresa herself
The LA Times
And the best from LAist
2 comments:
Oh man. I heard about this, but just the bare bones of it, and thought about how sad it was; I didn't know all the rest.
It's stunning in its complexity. I was amazed to read the articles and to discover how profoundly sad it all is. If only there had been someone that saw and knew and could have helped. But, I suppose we all must follow our paths wherever they may lead.
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