And I'm gone Now I'm older than movies And I know who's there When silhouettes fall And I'm gone Like I'm dancing on angels And I'm gone Through the cracks in the past Like a dead man walking -David Bowie, Dead Man Walking I was surprised by the depth of loss I felt when I learned David Bowie died, and it has taken me some time to unpack why. What is it that we mourn when a pop culture icon dies? There's the loss of the art they would have made had they gone on living. There's sympathy for the family they left behind, especially if there were young children. There's the manner of the death itself: accident, suicide, cancer. Any combination of these factors is reason enough to mourn, but none quite explain why we feel deep sadness in losing someone we didn't know. I believe that the degree of our mourning is in direct relation to how many fond memories we have of that icon's work. That's why it feels personal. I ...
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