Christine Pascal

Christine Pascal was a French actress. She made her film debut at age 21 in Michel Mitrani's Les Guichets du Louvre (1974), and began an association with Bertrand Tavernier with her next film, L'Horloger de Saint-Paul (1974). Other films with Tavernier include Que la fête commence (1975), for which she received a César nomination for Best Supporting Actress; The Judge and the Assassin (1976); Des enfants gatés (1977), which she co-scripted; and Round Midnight. Other film appearances include Black Thursday (1974), La Meilleure façon de marcher (1976), The Maids of Wilko (1979), Entre Nous (1983), and Le Grand Chemin (1987). She made her directorial debut with Félicité, and also directed La Garce, Zanzibar, Le Petit prince a dit (which won the Louis Delluc Prize) and Adultère, mode d'emploi.

n Félicité, the first film she directed, the opening scene was a suicide scene. Pascal was known to have suffered with depression for many years. In 1996, while staying in a psychiatric hospital in the Paris suburb of Garches, Christine Pascal died by suicide. She was 42 years old.

Christine Pascal 

November 29, 1953 – August 30, 1996

This is Why I Write

Yes. These words. We must speak up. Your story matters. Someone, somewhere, may read what you have to say and know that they are not alone. None of us are alone. Share your story.



(The poem 'Why Bother', is from Sean Thomas Dougherty's book of poetry, The Second O of Sorrow.  Thank you Mr. Dougherty, you have perfectly captured the beauty and power of writing, in 20 short words.)

Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. He found his greatest success in American films during the 1930s. He is well known for many films including the 1944 mystery-thriller Gaslight. He received four Academy Award nominations for Best Actor.

Boyer had a long successful life but it was marred by the heartbreaking tragedy of the death of his only child, Michael to suicide. His son was twenty one years old when he died. On August 24, 1978, two days after the death of his wife of 44 years (from cancer), and two days before his own 79th birthday, Boyer died by suicide. He was seventy eight years old.

Charles Boyer

August 29, 1899 – August 26, 1978

Gia Allemand

Gia Allemand was an American actress, model, and reality television contestant. She was known for competing on two ABC reality shows, The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love and Bachelor Pad. In her 2010 appearance on "The Bachelor," she was the third-runner up on the show featuring love interest Jake Pavelka. Allemand and Pavelka remained friends after her stint on the show.

Allemand died by suicide, on August 14, 2013.

"We have lost an angel and a very dear friend," Pavelka said.

Gia Allemand was twenty nine years old when she died.

Gia Marie Allemand

December 20, 1983 – August 14, 2013

Robin Williams

Four years ago today, we lost Robin Williams to suicide. It was ten months after my own suicide attempt, and several friends called me to ask if I'd heard the news and if I was ok. So on that day, I wrote a few of my thoughts and posted them on my writing blog. (This blog which is dedicated to suicide prevention and awareness did not exist yet.) You can find what I wrote four years ago, by clicking on the blog page image, above.

A few notes:

Four years ago, it was really hard for me to write those thoughts down. In particular I was ashamed because I was referencing my own suicide attempt. Less than a year after I wrote the essay, I made it 'private' on the blog, so that no one could see it anymore. Today though, the post is public again. That is the way it will remain.

Since the time that I wrote that blog post, a few significant things have changed.

First, the number of lives lost to suicide annually in the United States is no longer nearing 40,000. That number has been increasing each year. Today, we are closer to 45,000 lives lost per year.

Next, four years ago, suicide was the third leading cause of death among young people. This statistic has gotten worse. It is now the second leading cause of death.

Finally, in that essay I said that I would not stop advocating. Except I did. Sort of. My association with my own suicide attempt got lost in the shuffle of life going on. I became someone different and I preferred to think that people didn't associate me with 'suicide' anymore. So, I got a lot more quiet. I liked the idea of forgetting.

I'm different now. I joke with my friends that they should call me Suicide Sally, my life revolves so much around suicide education and outreach.

Four years ago today, we lost Robin Williams to suicide. I knew what a lot of the issues were then. I know a whole lot more now.

My heart was broken for all of us impacted by suicide loss then. My heart has been broken again and again by suicide loss, since then.

Today when I say that I will not stop advocating, I mean it.

Robin Williams

July 21, 1952 - August 11, 2014

May Ayim

I will be african even if you want me to be german 

and i will be german even if my blackness does not suit you

i will go yet another step further

to the farthest edge

where my sisters-where my brothers stand

where our freedom begins

i will go yet another step further and another step 

and will return when i want if i want

and remain borderless and brazen

- Borderless and Brazen, May Ayim

May Ayim was an Afro-German poet, educator, and activist. The child of a German mother and Ghanaian medical student, she was adopted by a white German family when young. 

Ayim's writing was included in the book Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out (1986). She worked as an activist to unite Afro-Germans and combat racism in German society. 

In 1996, Ayim suffered a mental and physical collapse and was hospitalized briefly. She was discharged despite still struggling with depression, 

May Ayimim died by suicide on August 9, 1996. She was thirty six years old.

May Ayim 

May 3, 1960 - August 9, 1996

The Beauty of Grief

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson) was an American actress, model, and singer. Famous for playing 'blonde bombshell' characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s. More than half a century later, she continues to be a major pop culture icon.

Monroe was one of the most marketable Hollywood stars of her generation. She won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her work in Some Like It Hot (1959), a critical and commercial success. Her last completed film was the drama The Misfits (1961).

Monroe struggled with substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. On August 5, 1962, Monroe died by suicide. Marilyn Monroe was 36 years old when she died.

Marilyn Monroe

June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962