If I may, I suggest others not be sad for him either. To be so would be to assume that his last moments were filled with despair, confusion and a powerlessness to choose life. That might be an apt assumption to make for a sixteen year old who has been bullied and does not have the perspective to know that "it will get better," but not for a 63 year old artistic genius who has, very likely, lived a life far richer and deeper - in experience, emotion and wisdom - than I, at least, can hope for. His last moments may have been confused and despairing or they may have had a clarity of thought and welling of spirit that is beyond my understanding. I don't know.
I do suspect, however, that we have a bias against suicide - that we see it as uniformly negative. While there are many reasons that is a good bias to have (not least, for perpetuating the species), I leave open the possibility that sometimes the choice of death is not something to feel sad about - but to respect, honor and maybe even admire.
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