Who What Where When But Not How
Monitoring my blog stats recently, I have noticed since my posting on the passing of Vince Welnick that a lot of people are searching the web for information on the method of suicide involved.
I don’t know how he did it, apparently nobody does. There’s a good reason for this. The Marin Independent Journal reported on June 8:
The Sonoma County Coroner’s Office confirmed Wednesday that former Grateful Dead keyboardist Vince Welnick committed suicide Friday at his Forestville home. Coroner’s Sgt. Will Wallman said Welnick’s family has requested that no other details be released.
This needs to be respected by bloggers and the media, and so far, it has. There is a good reason for this as well. Excerpts from the website of the American Association of Suicidology:
… Media stories about individual deaths by suicide may be newsworthy and need to be covered, but they also have the potential to do harm.
“Exposure to suicide method through media reports can encourage vulnerable individuals to imitate it. [Citing Fekete, S., & Macsai, E. (1990). Hungarian suicide models, past and present. In G. Ferrari (Ed.), Suicidal behavior and risk factors (pp. 149- 156). Bologna: Monduzzi Editore]“
“Celebrity deaths by suicide are more likely than non-celebrity deaths to produce imitation.” [Citing Wasserman, I. M. (1984). Imitation and suicide: A re-examination of the Werther effect. American Sociological Review, 49, 427-436.]
The title for my first posting about Vince Welnick’s passing, One Less White Punk On Dope, was chosen in reference to his history with the rock band The Tubes. While speaking on the phone recently with my eldest daughter, age 25, I asked her if she had ever heard of the Tubes.
“Uh, no,” she replied.
“How about a song called White Punks On Dope?”
“Hell, yeah. I know that song.”
To clarify, I meant no disrespect with the title of my posting. I don’t have personal knowledge as to whether Vince used drugs. And it doesn’t matter to me how Vince ended his life. If it matters to you, please, ask yourself why.
Update June 30: Follow-up posting here.
