[jAZ]

Robin Williams' death was a big deal to me. Much bigger than any celebrity death that I can remember. It seems to me that I'm not alone. I don't recall there being such broad community grief from a celebrity death in a long time. Maybe Kurt Cobain? Be that was pretty narrow to young people, I think.

I think part of it has to do with the sad and surprising way he died.

It was surprising to me was how personally I am taking his death. It's almost like he was a family friend or close, and he was not remotely that.

I think it's a combination of how iconic RW was for me as I was growing up. It was less about M&M and more about his standup routine and remembering watching it on HBO (and later on VHS) with my dad. RW, Bill Cosby and George Carlin's stand up routines were all iconic entertainment for me growing up.

I think another part of it for me was the surprise at how beloved RW was. I assumed it was mostly just my thing.

I guess I have a couple questions for people here:

Did anyone else here have the same heart-felt reaction I did?
If not Robin Williams', what celebrity passing hit you hardest?
Is there any prior celebrity death that you think had such a widely emotional reaction?