I just had a phone call from a friend, about another friend we know, an actor from TO whom I hired to do a show about 5 years ago.

It seems he shot an ex-girlfriend in the face (didn't kill her, but blinded her) last week and then went to a park and shot himself. He died.

My brain can't quite wrap around it. I just saw him about a month ago when I went to a play reading of the 2 act version of the same play he had been our here to do before. He's actually been here twice before and worked with a number of other friends as well.

How horrible. Imagine feeling like that was somehow an answer to something.

To make matters worse, no one seems to have known much about him. I guess the police can't release his body for any kind of funeral or anything, because they can't find any next-of-kin to notify. He was adopted and grew up in Manchester, England, but was estranged from them as well as his biological relatives from Jamaica. He was a bit of a strange guy - has spent time in the military and was kind of obsessed with it and with guns and things. But he was a good guy. Very sweet. When I saw him last month he gave me a big hug and said how sorry he was to here about my job and how good he had thought I was and how much he had loved doing the show with us back when.

He really did seem like one of those "wouldn't hurt a flea" kind of guys. I guess you never really know what's going on in someone else's mind.

I'm floored.