And news, via Facebook, that Nanu had passed away. 62 years old, living, courtesy of Nelson Cares, at the North Shore Inn. Details were scant, I suspect he took his own life.
Fall and winter are the seasons of despair here, and - adding up just off the top of my head the numbers of people I've known to die from Suicide, OD's, well, it's scary.
And these - largely, go unreported. The newspaper does not publish obituaries unless the family pays, and estrangement is often part of the picture. Thus it's probably that there are more people I've known that have simply dropped off the radar, moved away, when in fact their relocation has been a little more ... permanent.
Nanu, I met at the restaurant when he lived in Balfour, he sold me a copy of his book. Friendly, apparently cheerful (although, talking to him you realized he had a lot going on, didn't want to burden you with his shit...), ran into him downtown in the summer, he seemed fine, free time, time to make plans, do other things, practicing the piano, always a load of trifles to keep him occupied. Now, another local character that has vanished, and we're all a little poorer.