What terrible news! I didn't know Stevenson very well, but I met him and spent a little time with him back in '79-'80 when "Piano Players Never Play Together" was being filmed.

My good friend Eddie Kurtz was originally Stenenson's partner on that project, but the untimely death of Professor Longhair led to a parting of the ways ~ Eddie didn't want to invade the privacy of Fess' family by filming the wake and funeral, but Stevenson decided to go ahead and shoot, at which point Eddie quit and washed his hands of the whole deal, leaving Stevenson alone to finish shooting and to do all the editing, post-production, etc. Eddie is one of my oldest friends in the world, and I understood his point of view, but I am glad that Stevenson captured a record of that sad event and completed the film the way that he did.

(Eddie's voice ~ uncredited ~ can be heard off-camera during the segments where Fess is being interviewed in front of a sort of patchwork tapestrey that was the backdrop of the Tipitina's stage at the time. I was present, by the way, while that interview as being shot.)

It's hard for me to fathom most of the suicides that have occurred in the wake of the Katrina flood. I can't really sit in judgement because I realize that my family and I have been much luckier than most, not only because our house wasn't totally ruined, but also (and mostly) because we have resources and connections outside the city. But then, so did Stevenson, and look what happened to him...

Folks who had nothing, or nearly nothing, are generally holding up reasonably well. It seems to me that the more-or-less affluent (those who really had something to lose) have been more susceptible to terminal despair. For example: One of our family doctors, our kids' pediatrician, did away with himself a few weeks ago. With very few patients or potential patients in town, doctors and (especially) dentists have been fairly desperate to keep up their income, plastering the steets with handbills advertising their services. I'm sure most of them have substantial bills to pay each month, not only for the equipment they use in their professions, but also in many cases for mortgages on rental property that suddenly became useless. It's easy for me to say "Hey, it's only money," but for those facing serious financial shortfalls, I suppose the problems can seem insurmountable. Of course, every person's case is unique, and I certainly don't know the particulars of Stevenson's problems, but I'd guess that he was in despair over his financial and/or professional future...