I enjoy Guardian Unlimited and read it regularly yet somehow managed to miss their obituary on Tristan Egolf.

From what I’ve researched so far, the article in GU appears to be balanced and accurate. My only concern is about the wording of the opening and closing sentences.

I think it’s unwise to state categorically that Egolf shot himself. From a journalistic point of view, what we know is that Egolf was a resident of W. Lemon St and was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in an apartment on N. Charlotte Street. Kirchner, the coroner, is said to have ruled that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. While it may be inconvenient to repeat all that in subsequent articles about Egolf (it’s so much easier to say suicide), I think a responsible journalist will state what is known rather than what is assumed.

As for the closing sentences of the GU article, the author did, as you said, mention manic depression. Because I’ve seen no primary source data confirming a diagnosis of manic depression, I’m going to take the statement with a grain of salt, for the time being. I know that Michael Hoober was quoted in the press as having mentioned depression, but depression and bipolar disorder (often called “manic depression”) are two very different things.

Again, thank you for Dr. Hollis’s review and for your timely response. I appreciate the link and the information.

I appreciate your comment and this review should certainly not be considered a diagnosis of Tristan Egolf.

As Dr. Hollis states, Tristan “reportedly” suffered from bipolar illness. Tristan’s obituary in Britain’s The Guardian Newspaper (http://books.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,11617,1486622,00.html) is one example that mentions his coping with “manic depression.” Any information you can provide to the contrary is welcome.

Thank you again for your input.

From the time of his death until the present, I’ve been regularly reading reports of Egolf’s work and life on the Web and have yet to see a reputable, verifiable source that Egolf was bipolar.

There were some references in the media to Hoober being a therapist, but he was not Egolf’s therapist, he was his friend.

If you can provide a link to verifiable data that Egolf was bipolar, I would be interested. If there is no such data, I think we have to be careful in saying it, because information like that, especially when mentioned by a credentialed individual with a PhD, has a way of perpetuating through the Web until it becomes “fact” in people’s minds.

I’m not trying to be contrary. I simply was surprised that, in all my research of Egolf, I hadn’t encountered facts to substantiate a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and I would like to fill in my records, if he did, indeed, have this problem.

Thank you for the interesting review of Kornwolf.