Theresa Duncan, RIP

Filmmaker and writer and all-around brilliant person Theresa Duncan committed suicide last week. I was first introduced to Duncan's blog, The Wit on the Staircase, by Kevin Roderick at LA Observed. It was the sort of blog that is easy to read, despite the multitude of ideas it presented, about books and physics and perfume and art; you knew they were written by someone who did not stop for the easy answer. Duncan was also a babe; complex and cool and someone that, one of these days, you'd inevitably run into. She was apparently found by her boyfriend, the artist Jeremy Blake, whose clothes were found on Rockaway Beach and who is presumed drowned.

Kevin discusses Duncan and what's going on, here.
Today's New York Times article about Duncan and Blake, here.
My friend Kate Coe on her friend, Duncan, here.

Comments

[eric]

This is so intensely sad, after looking at her website... I had never even heard of her before. Very eclectic personality.

[Kate Coe]

She invented Mimi Smartypants! Her blog was all sophisticated and some what eccentric, but her games for girls were brilliant.

[Emeline]

I had never heard of Theresa Duncan before, but her death - suicide - and her life reminds me the Diane Arbus ones.
Both were smart and talented artists. What a pity.

[Emeline]

I made a mistake: I wanted to write *remind,in my previous post. Sorry!

[eric]

If you go to youtube, there appears to be some of her work- just search Theresa Duncan.

[Amy Alkon]

Very, very sad.

[TheresaDuncanCentral]

It's always sad when someone kills herself. Was Duncan really brilliant though? Let's be honest with ourselves. Her writing was sophomoric and convoluted--that is, when it wasn't plagiarized. (See my blog for evidence of 3 cases of plagiarism by Duncan in her posts on the history of electricity.)

[rebecca]

apparently,brilliance and stunningness don't give you an insight as to adopting a dog from a shelter-only a vanity breed will do-

[nancy]

I don't really understand Rebecca's comment, above. As for the one above that: I am reminded of when my friend Cathy Seipp passed away earlier this year, and all the cowards came out to speak ill of the dead.
For those interested in the good and bad of Duncan and Blake, check out this week's feature in New York magazine:
http://nymag.com/news/features/36091/

[Gary Roar]

fuck all of you Kate Coe the most,posing as a friend of Theresa's one place,tkaing part in the total misappropriation of Theresa's name and fame at TDC a site dedicated to ratting Theresa out-where Kate jumps in so addicted to the attention of someone mentioning her name as she certainly will here,hopefully not-hopefully she will stay away-she won't be able to resist-it's not about the disrespect of the dead,Theresa lives-but you are talking about her and she is not able to talk back.
Kate has a need to reply,to refute,can you see the underhandedness of that-she's playing knock out fuck with Theresa's body=
that could be a fun game,a group of people
get together everyone takes a turn,they have to be quiet while everyone puts them on the spot and they can't say anything in response,there only vent is when it's their turn to dis.
How about Kate and Amy and Pool of shit,why don't you call each other out as you are still living-Theresa's theonly one with dirt,and she is coincidentally the only one dead-c'mon run each other thru the ringer the way you have Theresa,forget that people close to her are in real grief.
If what you are all doing is about being on the up and up,start checking each others work.Staircase was so much more out of sight than any of your blogs-it was fun to be on the Staircase-Theresa lead me many places,pointed me in all kinds of engaging directions-
screw you all to the wall