The firstish thing I thought when I heard ANS had died was very pop culture, 26 times removed: this news will not surprise John Waters, and indeed might make him happy, although not in any mean way (I thought). In the celebrity-experiencing/digesting sense, not to mention because think about the hoo-ha to come over that no-father-knowing-yet 6-mo-old daughter. Because it's all very Jayne Mansfield, and John Waters is someone who likes Mansfield better than Monroe, enjoys the self-promoters. And this story has all the shape and size of a bad sad hollywoodbabylon mess. And then I thought, why are we suprised that anybody who slurs her words and can't talk coherently like she did at the AMA show is dead, especially as the rest of the time she is a jittery, staring, starving wreck. And I don't feel surprised anymore. But I sure did, at the very first.

Embarrassed beyond recognition to be commenting on this here, yet
what the hell, we're all human,
I remain

Yours sincerely,
E.M. Tamny