Editor:
Noah Lopez's article entitled "Cobain's no idol, forget about him already" (Sept. 8) is downright scary! Does he really believe that people can just forget about the loss of one of their idols? If it were that easy, Elvis, John Lennon, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix would be resting easy in their graves rather than being continually mourned by their fans.
Stevie Ray Vaughan died four years ago this month. I continue to listen to his music and wish there were more. And even though it's four years later, I continue to mourn the loss of a talented musician. No, I didn't know him personally, no matter how many times I saw him in concert. No, I didn't know how he thought or what he wanted from life, even though I listened to his lyrics over and over. But yes, I do know that he's someone I will miss forever.
Mr. Lopez, have you any compassion at all? I don't need to know people to be sad that they've died. No matter how public or private their lives are, no matter how well they've lived their lives, no matter how young or old, it is sad when they die.
And how old are you Mr. Lopez? Don't you remember when you first discovered rock 'n' roll? Do you remember your first idol? Being a teenager is a hard thing. Your heroes of the past don't seem to measure up. All of a sudden you realize that there's a certain kind of music being made that speaks to YOU. And naturally, the people making it are somehow connected to you. Many young people "loved" Kurt Cobain and continue to identify with Nirvana's music. It's pretty apparent that a whole hell of a LOT of people identified with it, ironically transforming the meaning of the word "alternative" to mean "mainstream."
And by the way, if you are so tired of the media hype over Kurt Cobain's suicide, why don't you stop writing about it, huh? I guess you just needed to get an article in by deadline and you didn't have anything remotely original to say...
Madeline F. Demes
Arizona Poison & Drug Information Center