there goes my hero....
"Frederick Exley, a native of Watertown, New York, is best known as the author of an obscure but highly regarded book, A Fan's Notes, originally published by Harper & Row in 1968. Not quite a novel and not quite a memoir (Exley suggested it be referred to as "a fictionalized autobiography"), A Fan's Notes is a sardonic account of mental illness, alcoholism, and failure to measure up to the American dream -- as well as the black hole of sports fandom."

as i looked up good old exley on wiki, it occured to me that a huge portion of my list of favorite writers and musicians is littered with alcoholics, curmudgeons and misfits. i love the underdog, the iconoclast, the tragic train wrecks. check this list out:

• **bukowski
• **hunter s. thompson
• *tom waits
• *james frey
• *steve mcqueen
• **kurt cobain
• **dorothy parker
• andy kaufman
• amy & david sedaris
• janeane garafalo
• woody allen
• harvey pekar
• david letterman
• elvis costello
• bill murray
• **john cassavettes
• **dian arbus
• r.w. emmerson
• sara silverman
• e.e. cummings
• **hemmingway, **fitzgerald, & gertrude stein (sorry, i have a soft spot for those "lost generation" writers.....)
• andy warhol, *brigid berlin, **edie sedwick, (soft spot for the early factory days)
• *william s. burroughs, **jack kerouac (yes, i have a soft spot for the beat generation as well!)
• *billy joel
• j.d. salinger
• *dian fossey
• joni mitchell
• charles schulz
• **bill hicks
• margaret cho
• *carson mccullers

* denotes substance abuse problems (past and/or present)
**suicide or death from substance abuse problems

2nd quote of the day: "show me a hero and i'll write you a tragedy." ~ f. scott fitzgerald