(Written April 21, 2016) Everyone has their Sir Paul, or their Bowie, or their Tupac. Musicians like these generally show up at a time of adolescent uncertainty, and for reasons that never really become totally clear until you read that they’ve died, they make you understand yourself a little better. Prince was that person for me, and he died today. Goddammit. My formative years were so tied to Prince that it almost seems like I’m thinking of someone else in hindsight. I showed up to the...

I recently stumbled upon a random “rest easy” postmortem on Facebook. A friend was mourning a gone-too-soon colleague and mentor,...

On my nightstand growing up, I kept a series of trophies that I hoped might serve as conversation pieces at sleepovers – a few from...