Comedy Writer, WordPress Blogger Joe Bodolai Dies

TMZ is reporting that former Saturday Night Live writer (the 1981-2 season best forgotten except for Eddie Murphy) and Kids in the Hall producer Joe Bodolai has died in an apparent suicide. He kept a blog via WordPress, and has a heartbreaking last post entitled If This Were Your Last Day Alive What Would You Do?

Most news reports are picking up on Joe’s list of regrets, particularly the first one, which is “My inability to conquer my alcoholism.” Last on the list is just “Lisa” — which is a pretty crappy thing to do to Lisa, whoever she is, although it’s possible that he’s referring to his side of the equation. He does include, in the middle of the list, “The hurt I caused in my family, friends, and maybe even strangers.”

The New Yorker ran a piece a few years back about people who commit suicide by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. They interviewed some of the few survivors and noted how they often regretted their decision as soon as they jumped “if not before.” One of the survivors, Ken Baldwin, said something very striking about his thought process immediately after the jump. He stated that: “I instantly realized that everything in my life that I’d thought was unfixable was totally fixable–except for having just jumped.”

Of course, my thoughts and condolences go out to Joe’s family and friends. And yes, to the strangers who feel hurt by this as well.

UPDATE on 12/28/12: This post is still getting hits from people searching for the backstory on Lisa. If any of you do find out, please come on back to let us know.