Celebrities Speaking Up About Grief: Volume 13

Books, Movies, and Music / Books, Movies, and Music : Litsa Williams



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If you are a WYG regular (and we hope you are), you probably know we love love love when celebrities open up about grief.  No, it is not because we take some twisted pleasure in the pain of the rich and famous. We love that celebrities talking about grief shines a light on a universal human experience that can feel hidden in the shadows.  It reminds us that we are not alone. Sometimes it even inspires us to share the emotions that we have been bottling up, holding in, or stuffing away.

So this week we bring you three new celebrities talking about grief.  But before we do, a quick request: One of our fabulous grief friends over at the Chesapeake Life Center nominated us as a best Baltimore-based health and wellness blog. Woot woot! We think it would be super to see a grief blog win and, let's be honest, we think it would be even more super if that grief blog was What's Your Grief. So, before you read today's post, do us a solid and click on over to the Baltimore Sun Mobbie page and vote for WYG in the health and wellness section.  If you are a WYG superfan, you can even vote for us once a day between now and November 12th.

Done voting?  Thanks, you're the best.  We hate asking for things, but we non-runners here at WYG just couldn't let one of those running blogs win without putting up a good fight.

Okay, refocus. Celebrities talking about grief, here we go:

Frank Turner on the Death of Josh Burdette

If you live in the Baltimore-DC area and go to see live music, even occassionally, you probably know the 9:30 Club. If you are like me and have many a fond memory there, dating back to high school, you probably remember Josh Burdette. He was hard to miss: 6'3" 300lb guy covered with tattoos and piercings. He was a fixture at the club, one of those people you couldn't imagine not being there. In 2013, Josh Burdette died by suicide, a loss that rippled through not just his friends and family, but the community strangers who knew him as a constant presence at the 9:30 Club. This year, Frank Turner released a new album and, on it, he included his 'Song to Josh.' This is a song he wrote for Josh, then performed and recorded at the 9:30 Club. Here is the video of that show, that includes Turner sharing memories of Josh and singing a song that articulates so much of the pain that comes with suicide loss.  If your cubicle neighbor is offended by the f-bomb, skip his introduction and start the video at 1 minute 50 seconds when the song starts.

Sarah Silverman on Depression and the Death of Her Mom

So, in this 36 minute interview, probably less than 10 minutes are about her mom's death... but this made this list because I love Sarah Silverman, in much of the rest of the interview, she opens up about her personal struggles with depression. Talking about her new movie, I Smile Back (where she plays a wife and mother struggling with profound depression) also got me really excited to see the film! You can hear the Fresh Air interview here:

And you can check out the trailer for her new movie here:

Liam Neeson with Anderson Cooper on Grief

You may know that Anderson Cooper has gone through significant loss in his life and, perhaps because of that, he takes many opportunities to talk about grief. Needless to say, we love this. We shared a link to this video back in July, but we weren't able to embed it and the link seemed to have some problems.  So, this is a take two for this video with Anderson Cooper interviewing Liam Neeson on the death of his wife, Natasha Richardson.

Susan Williams on Robin Williams' Suicide

This week, Robin Williams' widow opened up about her husband's death for the first time, discussing his health struggles in the months before he died as well as the unexpected diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia found after his death.

For similar articles, read:


We wrote a book!

After writing online articles for What’s Your Grief
for over a decade, we finally wrote a tangible,
real-life book!

After writing online articles for What’s Your Grief for over a decade, we finally wrote a tangible, real-life book!

What’s Your Grief? Lists to Help you Through Any Loss is for people experiencing any type of loss. This book discusses some of the most common grief experiences and breaks down psychological concepts to help you understand your thoughts and emotions. It also shares useful coping tools, and helps the reader reflect on their unique relationship with grief and loss.

You can find What’s Your Grief? Lists to Help you Through Any Loss wherever you buy books:

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11 Comments on "Celebrities Speaking Up About Grief: Volume 13"

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  1. Cara  October 9, 2018 at 6:10 pm Reply

    Pamela I am sure you decisions are not wrong just different, it’s just so hard. Who knew it would be this hard hey. All we cAn do is take one day at a time , my mum used to say one step at a time and I am holding on to that x

  2. Cara  October 9, 2018 at 6:07 pm Reply

    I have just lost my mum who was married also to my dad for 39 I want to help him so much, even though my own heart is breaking it breaks a little more for him.
    Any advice is greatly appreciated, we lost mum to a sudden cardiac arrest 2 months ago. But someways feels like yesterday.

  3. Pamela  October 8, 2018 at 9:05 am Reply

    I lost my soulmate, my husband 20 months and 4 days ago. I don’t know how to go on without him. Every decision I make is wrong. He was my world and I hate that I’m left here without him. I don’t know to do anything without his love and sweet smile in my life. Thank you for listening.

  4. Sylvia Gratta  November 2, 2017 at 10:53 pm Reply

    I too lost the love of my life, now two and a half years ago, not many days go by that I don’t relive it all over again
    We were married for 39 years and still were so in love. People used to tell us how lucky we were to have found
    each other. I didn’t understand the meaning of “Soul Mate” until I met him. It was an instant attraction, like we
    had known each other all of our lives. I was 18 and he was 22. We eloped a year later. God has blessed us with
    two beautiful children.
    My husband had Melanoma. As you know, it is one of the most deadliest forms of cancer.
    My husbands grave site is right across the street from my apartment building. I look out the window every morning
    to say Good morning my love and every night to tell him I love him. I also thank the Lord for being good and allowing
    me to have 39 years with him. When I first moved to the apartment, I always told people that at night when I looked
    out the window, my husband faced East and my window faces West and we meet each other in the middle.
    When it is my time to leave this earth, I know I will see him again.
    My heart goes out to all that have loved and lost. Hold on to those memories as they will always be a part of you.
    Thank you for letting me share and thank you for letting us into your lives as well.
    Yes, part of the healing process is talking about it.

  5. Sylvia Gratta  November 2, 2017 at 10:53 pm Reply

    I too lost the love of my life, now two and a half years ago, not many days go by that I don’t relive it all over again
    We were married for 39 years and still were so in love. People used to tell us how lucky we were to have found
    each other. I didn’t understand the meaning of “Soul Mate” until I met him. It was an instant attraction, like we
    had known each other all of our lives. I was 18 and he was 22. We eloped a year later. God has blessed us with
    two beautiful children.
    My husband had Melanoma. As you know, it is one of the most deadliest forms of cancer.
    My husbands grave site is right across the street from my apartment building. I look out the window every morning
    to say Good morning my love and every night to tell him I love him. I also thank the Lord for being good and allowing
    me to have 39 years with him. When I first moved to the apartment, I always told people that at night when I looked
    out the window, my husband faced East and my window faces West and we meet each other in the middle.
    When it is my time to leave this earth, I know I will see him again.
    My heart goes out to all that have loved and lost. Hold on to those memories as they will always be a part of you.
    Thank you for letting me share and thank you for letting us into your lives as well.
    Yes, part of the healing process is talking about it.

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