Heavy D, formally known as Dwight Arrington Myers, was pronounced dead earlier today in Los Angeles. The cause of his death is unknown, but is said to be health-related.

Heavy D, born on May 24, 1967 in Jamaica, was an actor and rapper. He was known for being a part of Heavy D & the Boyz, which gained fame mostly in the late 1980s. His song “Now That We Found Love” was the backdrop of the wedding scene in the movie “Hitch.”

His most recent performance was in “Tower Heist”, in which he made a cameo appearance as a security guard.

The bodies that lay just beyond my front door were rigid and still, lifeless and festooned for their final farewell. For the most part the mortuary was dead quiet, especially after hours, but every now and then it would teem with inexplicable activity.

I had just put the baby to bed for the night and was indulging in the weekly magazine I saved for that quiet time when everyone had gone home or was out picking up our newest client. Just as I had settled into my corner on the couch, the floorboard outside my door creaked with the heaviness of a footstep. With a suddenly accelerated heart rate, I awaited the next step…but it didn’t come. Either someone was standing just outside my door, or I had imagined it. A loud crashing noise shook me from my frightened anticipation. Someone must have returned and was making a raucous while transferring a new body. I slowly opened the door an inch or two, keeping the chain securely fastened. Nobody was in the hallway. Upon thorough investigation of every room, I found that the mortuary was empty, save me and the baby. Walking quickly, as if followed by death, I made my way back to the apartment, heart racing, hair raised. I watched as an orb of light followed close behind my reflection in the mirror at the end of the hallway. I raced into the apartment, quickly locked the door – chain, deadbolt and knob – and returned to my corner on the couch, knees pulled up. While I rationalized the events, trying to laugh it off, it came again…the creaking floorboard.

The first thing people ask me when they read my book or hear a bit of my unlikely life story is, “You really lived in a mortuary…with dead people?” Yes, I did. And their next question is always the same…“why?”

I was newly married at twenty years old, six months pregnant and without many options for work and a home. This particular mortuary offered both and it was an offer impossible to pass up despite its obvious flaws. Needing a home and a way to provide for my new baby trumped the trepidation I had about whom, exactly, we would be living with.

The only mortuary experience I could remember before moving into that Northern California, family-owned funeral home was the service for my 92-year-old great grandma. I was barely into the double-digits of life and trembling while my grandpa firmly held my hand and walked me to the casket to pay my respects to one of my favorite people. When I got close, I was stunned by the lack of resemblance between the pasty, soulless body in front of me and the grandma who so often leaned over to peek at my cards while smiling as if she had a secret before asking, “Do you have any 4’s?” He made me kiss her cheek and I remember the smell, of what I now know to be formaldehyde, making me sick to my stomach and the cold, stiff feel of her cheek giving me the chills.

With this my only home-of-the-dead experience and the memories still haunting, I was a tad more than terrified to walk through my new front door. But as is the case with much of the unpleasant in life, I adapted. I began venturing out into the red-carpeted hallway, long and narrow, which led into the business office, casket show-room, chapels and, of course, the embalming room.

I helped after hours since I wasn’t technically an employee, only to find that it’s after hours that the place really comes to life. I ran the vacuum over every inch of carpet, at one point hugely pregnant and later with a baby dangling from a papoose slung over my shoulders. I cleaned the bathrooms, replaced the tissue boxes, collected and documented flower cards and gradually worked my way closer and closer to that room. Once inside, I came face to face with the morbid, matter-of-fact realities of death, and eventually, I painted those faces.

The first lesson I learned is one that has helped me through many uncomfortable situations. Human beings are surprisingly superb at adapting to our environments. At first mention, the idea of living with the dead was unfathomable, and I did spend many terrified moments curled up on the couch anticipating the next haunting footstep, shadow or looming light. But with time, I actually found myself unaffected by their presence, applying their make-up with the same matter-of-fact mindset I had while filing paperwork at a law firm months before, only with more cooperative clientele. I found a way to survive circumstances that had once seemed untenable, and I reminded myself of this when later faced with some of my darkest hours. I would repeat over and over the mantra, “no matter what, I’ll survive.” This mindset helped get me through a violent and at times life-threatening marriage, divorce and custody battle. It helped get me through single-motherhood. It still helps me with the uncomfortable uncertainty of life.

Life is fleeting. This is another lesson I learned from my time with death. The ironic contrast between the death that continually passed through the mortuary doors and the new life I held in my arms was unmistakable. It was terrifying, too, as I was quickly made aware that no one is immune to this certainty. Shortly after I brought my beautiful baby home from the hospital, another mother was bringing her still-born baby to our home for a service. With empathetic grief, I clung tightly to the life I would die to protect and grappled with the inevitability we must all face. I saw many ages, races and faces come through those doors. I saw natural causes and violent tragedies. Many who work in the business find themselves so consumed by death they can’t live life. Many turn to drugs and alcohol. I can’t really blame them. If death is the end of the road, life can seem futile and cruel. Luckily, before I was overwhelmed by the unforgiving and unrelenting reality of death, I caught a glimpse of what would become the most valuable lesson of all.

Any of us can play dead. It is, in fact, recommended as a useful tool while being mauled by bears. Hollywood goes to great lengths to recreate its likeness. But, the truth is, we can’t recreate it. It is undeniable that something is missing when you look at and touch a body that once was a living, breathing person. No matter how much make-up, glue or formaldehyde you use, you will often hear the family say that the body before them is not their loved one. They are most certainly gone…but where to? What is missing that made them who they were? These questions were ever present, and as haunting as the whispers in the hallway. It had been a long time since I had considered the Christian faith I was raised with. But the questions were demanding my attention. I began seeking answers and ironically, that place of death would become the beginning of a new faith and as a result, a radically new life.

Despite the many hair-raising events I suffered while living in that mortuary, I gained a lot from my time there. It was life-changing.

So if you are planning on taking up residence in your local funeral home, I have some advice: brace yourself for what might pass you in the hallways. And be respectful of the dead and their loved ones – for it will, most definitely, be you one day.

Rebecca’s book, “All the Wrong Places” is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble online, and the Rebecca’s website in both paperback and e-book format.

Michael Showers, who played a recurring role on the television show, “Treme,” as a police captain, was found dead in the Mississippi River.  He was 45.

The actor was found floating in the river on Wednesday, and his autopsy confirmed that he died from drowning, according to aceshowbiz.com.  There were no signs of trauma, but a toxicology report next week may reveal more.

Showers’ girlfriend, Melinda Carlos, claimed that he had been suffering from depression and anxiety after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in March.  She said that Showers left their home on Monday to meet a friend named Joe and never returned.

A steamboat captain near French Quarter in Louisiana sighted his body.  Officials say the body had been in the water for at least two days.

The death is still under investigation.

Rapper Nate Dogg, whose real name was Nathaniel D. Hale, reportedly died on Tuesday. He was 41. The Long Beach Press-Telegram first announced his death after the rapper’s family told them.

The cause of his death was not available, but he had suffered strokes in 2007 and 2008.

He was nominated for four Grammys and well-known for collaboration songs like “Regulate” with Warren G, “Area Codes” with Ludacris, “Lay Low” and “Crazy” with Snoop Dogg.

Snoop Dogg tweeted, “We lost a true legend n hip hop n rnb. One of my best friends n a brother to me since 1986 when I was a sophomore at poly high where we met. all doggs go to heaven yo homie n baby brotha bigg snoopdogg!!… RIP NATE DOGG.”

Ludacris added, “There is a certain void in hip hop’s heart that can never be filled. Glad we got to make history together.”

Edited August 22, 2010

The floods in Pakistan have killed up to 1,500 and left six million homeless, the BBC reports. Death tolls will likely rise as officials expect the continuation of monsoon season to worsen Pakistan’s most severe flooding in more than 80 years.

Many men, women and children are still waiting for aid as groups struggle to traverse land submerged in muddy water.

If aid doesn’t reach some areas soon, the death toll could rise sharply because of an influx in the spread of water-borne illnesses. Dehydration is common, but can be avoided, if aid organizations start handing out filter bottles, like those made by Lifesaver.

Now I don’t have any connection to Lifesaver. But these floods reminded me of a TED lecture I watched late last year. In it, Lifesaver CEO Michael Pritchard pours a combination of dreadful bacteria-laden objects into a fish tank full of water. He then mixes it around to create a brown sludge, a color of water familiar to anyone who has either been to fresh water-lacking areas of our globe, or has seen them on TV.

Pritchard then scoops the water into his water bottle, pulls out a pump from its base and pushes and pulls it back and forth a few times. He then pops the cap and voila; crystal clear water. He even drinks it just to prove its safety. The audience reaction is priceless.

How does it work? Well, Pritchard says the advanced nanotech and carbon filters in the bottle are 15 nanometres, which can filter out 99.9 percent of viruses, chemicals and bacteria, including polio. The individual bottles have a lifespan of about  6,000 litres. The jerrycan can last 20000 litres.

Then there’s the Lifestraw, which a person can just pop into a pool of water and suck through. It’s good for about 700 litres. When the filter no long works, Pritchard says the filter shuts down on its own.

There are, of course, other systems like this in place, and they are no doubt being used to some degree by aid organizations. But they definitely can be used more. Lifesaver sent more than 1,000 bottles down to Haiti, and they’ve been helping a lot.

Access to clean water for Pakistan’s displaced is key to saving lives and reducing the number of illnesses. If aid organizations can just scoop up stagnant water and seconds later use it to hydrate a child or clean a mother’s wound, the situation could become less severe.

Even if it doesn’t have a huge impact, something isn’t nothing, and Pakistan could use the help.

Thousand of troops are being deployed to different parts of Chile, a country recently ravaged by a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake, to try to prevent looting and criminal acts, Al Jazeera reports.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has doubled the number of troops patrolling the hardest hit areas to almost 14,000. Her government has been accused of mishandling disaster relief efforts, especially because some of the troops are guarding stores full of supplies so desperately needed by the people.

Government officials say until supplies can be distributed fairly, no one is allowed to have any. This in an effort to prevent a survival-of-the-fittest scenario, similar to the one that emerged in Haiti weeks ago.

Hundreds of tons of food, water and aid are being flown in to Chile from abroad, but teams are struggling to distribute the materials evenly.

Looting

Residents of Concepcion, a town about 300 miles from the capital city of Santiago, have been the most vocal in their anger over relief efforts. Recently, some members of the town set a store on fire after armed guards prevented them from entering and taking supplies.

Food, water and aid is being distributed, for the first time since the deadly quake, today in Concepcion. Up to now, residents have had to rely on looting, which is becoming harder and harder as guards patrol the area, or on stockpiles of  food they may have had before the quake hit.

According to Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, people in Chile are telling workers that the aid being supplied is not nearly enough. Government officials say they’ve now purchased all the food in Concepcion’s supermarkets and will begin to distribute it evenly shortly.

US aid

Secretary of State Hiliary Clinton arrived in Chile on Tuesday with the news that the US will send water purification systems and mobile hospitals very soon.

Clinton met with the country’s president, and plans to meet with the Chile’s president-elect, Sebastian Pinera, soon.

Death toll

Thus far, 795 people have been found dead. Relief teams are now making their ways to the more isolated but equally hard-hit neighborhoods, where they expect to find many, many more dead.

A violent storm named Xynthia struck Europe this weekend, according to CNN. At least 58 people have been killed and 60 have been injured.

France was affected the most, with at least 47 killed and nearly 500,000 households were without electricity Monday morning, CNN reports. The Boston Globe reports that Xynthia is the worst storm France has seen since 1999 when 90 people died. Three people in Spain were also killed, four in Germany, and Portugal and Belgium reported one death each. The storm had hurricane force winds, which reached up to 200 mph on the Atlantic coast.

The worst-affected areas of France are the Vendee and Charente-Maritime regions on the western coast of France, according to BBC. Residents went to their rooftops in the Vendee region and police helicopters were attempting to locate and rescue them. Heavy flooding occurred and many buildings were destroyed due to the strong winds and huge waves that battered coastal towns. Over 100 flights scheduled to go out of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport were cancelled due to the storm, reports CNN.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy plans on visiting the Vandee region on Monday, and offers his condolences to the relatives of victims. The French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France would formally declare the storm a natural disaster, freeing up funds to help rebuild communities. He also said “the government will, along with the local authorities, set up without delay a special plan to rebuild and strengthen the dykes.”

Xynthia moved westward causing damage in Germany and Belgium. A man in Germany was killed by a tree that fell on his car near the Black Forest area. Also in Germany, a two year old boy drowned when he was blown into a river, according to CNN. A man in southern Belgium was killed in his garden, also by a tree that had fallen. The storm was given the name Xynthia by the Meteorology Institute at the Free University of Berlin, which names all systems that affect the weather in central Europe.

At 4:53 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2010, Haiti changed forever. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake rumbled 10 miles outside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, causing the collapse of countless buildings, injuring hundreds of thousands, displacing more than 1 million and killing more than 100,000.

The international community was quick to respond to the plight of the Haitian, and citizens around the world gathered in solidarity to send whatever they could afford. Students at schools organized relief efforts through bake sales. Communities hosted fundraisers. Governments vowed to match donations put forth by their citizens. Celebrities hosted concerts. Hundreds of millions have been donated, and it continues.

But as we, up here, marvel at how generous a spirit has emerged during this horrible time, we remember why we’ve become so giving, and why we support the good, brave people of Haiti. These deaths were not caused by ill-advised war, but by a natural disaster that was unpreventable. Surely the number of dead should be smaller. But it isn’t, and now the Haitians will be forced to live rough lives. Many are getting ready to move to  a massive tent city just miles away from Port-au-Prince, and just a few hundred yards away from the mass graves that the corpses of their loved ones now call home.

This tragedy is, thankfully, uncommon. But when it happens it is devastating. But through all the destruction, despair and desperation, hopes have not been dashed. We hear of men and women being pulled from rubble 10 and 11 days after the quake. We hear of generous families adopting Haitian orphans so they don’t have to live in constant fear on the streets of the torn capital. And at night we hear the songs of Haiti, people gathered together chanting and reciting prayers for a better tomorrow. And that, they will receive.

All photos are courtesy of the American and Norwegian Red Cross on Flickr. The photos depict the efforts of the American, Israeli, Canadian and Norwegian volunteers, as well as local Haitians and Dominicans.

The world of martial arts entertainment lost one of its most important and influential stars today as David Carradine was found dead in a hotel room in Thailand on June 4 at the age of 72. He was in Thailand shooting his new movie “Stretch” when he was found in his room dead of an apparent suicide.

Carridine was most know for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the genre-breaking Kung Fu/Western television show “Kung Fu.” It was there that the term “Grasshopper” became synonymous with the martial arts and Carradine’s career was forged.

From there Carradine led a very successful acting career, becoming a four time Golden Globe nominee. Though known best for his roles as kung fu masters, Carradine was a multi-talented man, working with such greats as director Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman. He also became famous for portraying such great American icons as Woody Guthrie in the 1976 movie “Bound for Glory.”

Carradine was also not above playing humorous roles. From the self parodies of his famous Kwai Chang role appearing in everything from Lipton Iced Tea commercials to Jonas Brothers’ music videos, to his voice acting in several cartoons, including Nickelodeon’s “Danny Phantom” and “King of the Hill,” Carradine was noted for his sense of humor as well as his action star fame.

In his final years, Carradine never stopped making movies. In fact, he seemed to average almost a dozen a year since the turn of the century. Most famously he appeared as Bill, the ladies man leader of the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad, in the Quentin Tarantino classics “Kill Bill Volumes I and II.” He also appeared as the host of the TV series “Wild West Tech” on the History Channel, a show that went over everything about old west technology from faster six shooters to failed cures for dysentery.

Carradine was a known supporter of small budget films, appearing in many direct to DVD action titles. He was once quoted as saying, “Independent movies are just loaded with an enthusiasm that you usually don’t find in a big feature.” In 2005 he was honored for his list of over 200 roles when he was awarded the Action on Film International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award.

The last movie released featuring Carradine was titled “Break,” an assassin thriller in which Carradine appeared along side his long time acting partner and friend Michel Madsen. Madsen, who had appeared with Carradine previously in both “Kill Bill” and “Money to Burn,” was known to be extremely close to Carradine, so much so that Carradine’s marriage to his wife occurred on Madsen’s Malibu estate.

What is lost in the death of David Carradine is not just an icon of the kung fu genre. What is lost is a truly enjoyable man to see in any form of media. He may not have been considered an A-lister by the standard definition, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who in the very least didn’t recognize his face and smile when he came on screen. He was a pioneer of his genre, a man of good humor, and will certainly be missed by all who knew his work.

John Updike, one of the most critically acclaimed American authors of the 20th century, died in Danvers, Mass. on Jan. 26.

Mr. Updike had been battling lung cancer. He was 76.

The author of the “Rabbit” series and countless contributions to the New Yorker magazine was hailed throughout his career as an author whose work elevated the ordinary aspects of American life.

In the spring of 2008, the National Endowment for the Humanities chose Mr. Updike to present the Jefferson Lecture, one of, if not the highest honor in the humanities.

The seeds of his 54-year career were planted when he saw his mother writing at a table, the story goes. He reached huge critical acclaim with his “Rabbit” books, and in 1984, “The Witches of Eastwick” was made into a movie starring Cher, Michelle Pheiffer, Susan Sarandon and Jack Nicholson, and was filmed at the Crane Estate in Essex, Mass.

The prolific author wrote about a novel a year throughout his career. His work ranged from tales of suburban infidelity to magic realism and science fiction. He wrote for television and the stage in addition to his novels and streams of short pieces published in the New Yorker.

Los Angeles Times critic David L. Ulin’s obituary of Mr. Updike, published Jan. 27, casts a quietly tragic light on one of America’s most prolific writers.

Ulin wrote that his image of Mr. Updike will forever remain “as a self-described “Ëœfreelancer,’ who produced a nearly endless stream of book reviews, novels, stories, poems and occasional pieces — more than 60 volumes’ worth in all — because he felt he’d be forgotten if he didn’t keep his name in print.”

Mr. Updike was born in 1932 in Reading, Pa., to author Linda Grace Hoyer Updike and math teacher Wesley Russell Updike. He leaves behind his wife Martha, four children from his first marriage, Elizabeth Pennington, David Hoyer, Michael John and Miranda, and three stepchildren.

Mr. Updike’s work has been hailed as some of the greatest American fiction. There is no doubt in this critic’s mind that he will never be forgotten.

Dominic Mallary was a hardcore singer for the band Last Lights, and he twisted the microphone cord around his neck during every show. It’s a usually harmless trick frequented by industrial and hardcore acts, like Orgy’s Jay Gordon in so many videos.

Something went wrong on Thursday, and Mallary is dead. He didn’t accidentally hang himself or strangle himself. He just did his thing and finished his set at Boston University’s BU Central late night campus venue. It wasn’t until later that something was clearly wrong.

“He seemed fine for at least an hour or two, but after the last band played, he said he was feeling faint and couldn’t feel his legs,” Last Lights drummer Patrick Murphy told BU’s student newspaper, “The Daily Free Press.” “When they arrived at the hospital, he started to go into seizures, and that’s when he lost consciousness.”

He died a Friday at Boston Medical Center.

He was 24 and a 2007 writing, literature and publishing graduate of Emerson College.

“The Daily Free Press” reported that the band had been signed by the music label Think Fast! two days before the fatal show.

Boston University junior Jeanne Mansfield told the paper that Mallary sang well and seemed fine after the performance.

“He was amazing in what he was able to do, not even just in singing and screaming, but dancing and jumping around at the same time,” she told the “Free Press.” “It’s just weird to think that him doing what he apparently loved killed him.”

Paul Newman, legendary actor, avid philanthropist and successful businessman, died Friday from cancer at age 83, said his publicist Jeff Sanderson.

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards ranging from 1959 (“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”) to 2003 (“Road to Perdition”), Newman has made a lasting mark on Hollywood and will not soon be forgotten. Newman won his only Oscar in 1987 for his leading role in “The Color of Money.”

In addition to his acting career, Newman is well known for his race car career and food company. In 1982, Newman became co-owner of Newman-Haas racing. He also founded the food company, Newman’s Own, in which all of its proceeds go towards charity. His philanthropic tendencies did not stop there, as he also started The Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, an organization for terminally-ill children.

Newman cited health issues earlier this year when he turned down the opportunity to direct a production of “Of Mice and Men” in the fall.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in January of 1925 to Arthur and Theresa Newman, Newman’s interest in acting was a derivative of his mother’s and uncle’s interest in the creative arts.

It was at age 25, after Newman moved his then-wife Jackie and son Scott to Conn. to pursue a career in acting at the Yale University School of Drama. There, while doing a play, Newman was spotted by two agents who invited him to come to New York City as a professional actor.

In New York, Newman has several guest appearances in various TV shows before landing his big break in 1953 as an understudy to the lead role in the Broadway play, “Picnic.” It was in this play that he met his now-wife Joanne Woodward, but he was still married to Jackie, who had just given birth to their second child, Susan.

During this time Newman was also accepted into the New York Actor’s Studio, regardless of the fact that he didn’t technically audition.

In 1954, landed his first film role in “The Silver Chalice,” a role he mocked throughout his life. His next role in 1956′s “Somebody Up There Likes Me” landed him critical acclaim, and from there on out, his film career is history. It seems like somebody up there really did like him, because he has won the hearts of millions with his iconic blue eyes and his portrayal of the American rascal.

Newman is survived by his wife, Joanne, and six children. Burial plans are unknown.

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday in bed at his Manhattan home in what authorities are calling a possible drug-related death. He was 28.

The New York Police Department told reporters that a housekeeper for the apartment at 421 Broome St. in Soho found the actor’s body when she went to inform him that his masseuse had arrived for an appointment.

BLAST has confirmed through police that Ledger’s body was found with over-the-counter medicines and sleeping pills. Police said the death appears to be accidental.

Early rumors had circulated that Mary-Kate Olsen was with Ledger before or at the time of his death. NYPD’s spokesman called these reports “totally untrue."

The New York Times reported that an NYPD spokesman mistakenly told reporters the apartment Ledger was found in was owned by Olsen.

Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner for public information, initially said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen, but later reversed himself and said that was not the case.

A representative of Ms. Olsen said that the apartment did not belong to the actress. “It is not her apartment,” the representative, Annette Wolf, a publicist for Ms. Olsen, said in a phone interview. “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.”

“Medical examinations are underway, but we believe there was nobody involved in is death,” police told BLAST during a brief interview Tuesday.

An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday, and a formal press statement revealing the cause of death is expected in a few weeks. NYPD added that they will not release a statement in regards to the actor’s death. However they have clarified that Olsen was called by the masseuse to ask her what to do since Ledger was not responding when shaken, knowing that the two knew each other and she also served the actress.

Olsen suggested calling a private security service, after getting a second call form the masseuse the young star called the security service herself and two men arrived at Ledger’s apartment to offer help. At the same time, the housekeeper and masseuse called emergency and police arrived shortly after. An officer, the two staff members and the two security men present at the time, were witnesses when authorities pronounced Ledger dead.

Ledger is slated to appear as Batman villain, “The Joker” in the upcoming movie, “The Dark Knight.” Calls to Warner Bros. studios and DC Comics were not returned imediately but as of Wednesday morning a studio representative provided BLAST with a statement released by Alan Horn, President and COO, and Jeff Robinov, President, of Warner Bros. Pictures Group.

“The studio is stunned and devastated by this tragic news. The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent. Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person. Our hearts go out to his family and friends,” said the statement. “Filming has been completed on “The Dark Knight,” and the movie is now in post-production.

Ledger separated from his fianc©e Michelle Williams in September. The couple have a two-year-old daughter, Matilda. Ledger had also been working on “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” a movie directed by Terry Gilliam, which was to be released in 2009. His family released the a statement, Wednesday afternoon.

“We, Heath’s family, confirm, the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda. He was found peacefully asleep in his New York apartment by his housekeeper at 3:30 p.m. U.S. time. We would like to thank our friends and everyone around the world for their well wishes and kind thoughts at this time. Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him. He was a down to earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving and selfless individual who was extremely inspirational to many. Please now respect our family’s need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately,” the statement said.

See also, Blast Magazine’s obituary, “Remembering Heath Ledger.”

John Guilfoil and Mark Scalia, of the Blast Magazine staff, also contributed to this report.