On October 31st, 1993 at 1:51 a.m. River Phoenix died in front of the Viper Room.,  I was 18 and I remember that River’s death was one of the first major celebrity deaths I had experienced. (The next one being Kurt Cobain in April of 1994.) I remember sitting in front of the TV with my mom and we would watch all those entertainment type shows like Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition and listen to what happened. (I am sure if it was like the time now we would have been on the internet )

It was something that shook my world. River had such a career ahead of him and he died so young. I see now that there has been many after him like Heath Ledger and DJ AM that have died way before they should have. And I was at such a young age I didn’t think that I would have to experience something like that again. It shouldn’t be happening and we should be able to live life happy without having to worry about the great ones that left us. But it doesn’t happen that way. That’s why I’m glad that I’m a writer and I’m able to be able to talk about them and remember them.

Even 16 years later people can’t stop talking about River. There was a quote at the end of an article that inspired this piece for me and I wanted to quote the quote the writer used there by James Taylor. It seemed to sum it up all nicely.

I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend, but I always thought that I’d see you again…