Destination Universe

Your Chicago Tribune's Mark Caro remembers the brilliant Jim Ellison:

Suicide is always shocking, whether it’s a singer who has written a song called “I Hate Myself and Want To Die” (Kurt Cobain) or someone whose work and apparent attitude toward life showed few signs of such deep despair.

I still remember all too vividly my stomach-in-throat feeling upon hearing that Jim Ellison, the irrepressible lead singer/songwriter of the Chicago-gone-national band Material Issue, had been found dead at age 31 of carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage, a suicide note left near his body.

That was 10 years ago today (Tuesday), which seems incredible in itself.

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If there were any justice in the world, Chicago's flags would be flying at half-staff today.