This inward life of literary figures--I wonder whether a higher percentage of literary artists commit suicide than in the other arts?
But that's not my question. My question is: Who are some of the notable writers who've committed suicide? And how did they do it?
I can think of Plath and gas; Hemingway and the gun; Sexton and I don't know how; Wolfe drowned herself; and did Jack London drink his own urine? (That London story I heard when in sixth grade, so I doubt it's true.)
It's a lugubrious topic--and I'm not bringing it up casually, but because I'm really wondering about literature and artists and which ones committed suicide that I've never heard about.
Thanks for any input here,
WW
There has been a debate for many years exacly how Edgar Allan Poe died, and I doubt that it will ever be finally settled to everyone's satisfaction. But he was so depressed and drank to such a degree that it could be said the committed suicide gradually by drink. Not unknown in his time.
It could be this topic is simply too lugubrious after all. But, then again, maybe I'm incorrect in my thinking that there have been many...
I guess there could be some, like Poe, who drank themselves to death...but that's altogether different from one final desperate act.
WW
Yeah, WW, I guess there is a fine line between insanity and genius. Virginia Woolf filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself during WW2, I think it was. And Dylan Thomas is another who drank himself to death.
And then there was Tchaikovsky; one story is he drank cholera-contaminated water on purpose; he was homosexual and drove his wife crazy, goes the tale.
Yep, AnnaS, I'd remembered Virginia Woolf and the drowning, and I vaguely remember having read something of hers--a phrase about a string of pearls down in the water that seemed prophetic.
and did Jack London drink his own urine? (That London story I heard when in sixth grade, so I doubt it's true.)I loved Jack London. One of the bios I read refuted that he was even a suicide, but others say that he swallowed pills to end the suffering of a long illness which I believe to be the case. And that urine story is just a fabrication. But here's London's death certificate...perhaps the Good Doctor Bill can decipher its medicalese for us?
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/Documents/I0040981.htmlwriter's suicideMy "favorite" writer's suicide is poet Harte Crane who jumped off a boat in the Caribbean into the jaws of a shark. Now that's style!
Your Happy Epeolatrist!
Didn't I read somewhere that a medical student deduced, and (maybe) later was proven correct, that Poe died of arsenic? I had the idea that it wasn't a suicide, but rather a miscalculation in the amount? Apparently he was trying to build up an immunity. [aware that I may have to eat crow--make that raven--over this]
there is a group of doctors that review old case histories, and see if fresh eyes, looking at the case can see anything. the last group to "host" a case came from baltimore (hi Bob!)
they presented the fact about a many, who has a history of alcohol use, (but had been sober for some months), had a history of drug use, but again had been "clean" for some years who presented at the hospital with these symptoms...
the doctors reviewed the case, and desided, most likely, the man died of rabies. untreated rabies.
the man in question was Edgar Allen Poe.
we will never no for sure, but it does seem drink was not the cause of his death. he was in the hospital for 2 or 3 days, had no alcohol, and his symptoms are really not consistant with alcohol poisoning, or liver failure.
London's death certificate...decipher its medicalese
The certificate reads, in part:
"Nov 22, 1916
The Cause of Death was as follows:
Uraemia following renal colic, 1 or more days
Contributor: Chronic Interstitial Nephritis 3 years
State whether attributed to dangerous or unsanitary conditions of employment: No
(Signed) William S Porter, MD"
Roughly translated - he died from kidney failure after having had more than a day of pain attributed to the kidneys [usually from stones, occasionally from bleeding], also he had had kidney problems for the previous three years.
Drinking one's own urine doesn't generally lead to kidney failure by itself. Dehydration, maybe, or other chemical imbalances. There's nothing here to support the drank-his-own-urine hypothesis. "Healthy" urine would be sterile, too, so it would be unlikely to get an infection from drinking it.
Interesting that they were recording and tracking workplace conditions at that time. OSHA foreshadowed. We don't do that any more (in Massachusetts, anyway) though we do record military service or its absence.
Also interesting how legible the doctor's handwriting was! Medicine must have been a far more leisurely, if frustrating, calling in those days.
Also interesting how legible the doctor's handwriting was! Medicine must have been a far more leisurely, if frustrating, calling in those days.
I noticed that legibility, too. And it was somehow poignant to read there: "Occuption: Author." Right to the heart of the matter.