Steve Fossett Declared Dead 221
Parallax Blue writes "Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who risked his life seeking to set records in high-tech balloons, gliders and jets, was declared dead Friday, 5 months after he vanished while flying in an ordinary small plane. The self-made business tycoon, who in 2002 became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon, was last seen Sept. 3 after taking off in a single-engine plane from an airstrip near Yerington, Nev., heading toward Bishop, Calif. He was 63."
Re:Wife wanted his will put into effect? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Faked death (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:...while flying in an ordinary small plane. (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, I'd say there's a pretty good chance it was a sub-par model, all things considered.
OK That's it (Score:5, Insightful)
Right under this story I see a tag of "whogivesafuck."
That's just not acceptable.
Re:OK That's it (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The man died with open eyes doing what he loved (Score:2, Insightful)
This is no tragedy; we should be celebrating this man's life.
A billionaire who spent his billions on hot air balloon rides, and trying to fly around the world?
Sorry, I just don't see much worth celebrating. I'm sure he loved it, and great for him and all. But I don't find what he did or accomplished terribly noteworthy or important.
Re:OK That's it (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:OK That's it (Score:5, Insightful)
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls
it tolls for thee.
-- John Donne
Re:Inappropriate tagging" (Score:4, Insightful)
I have no particular emotional involvement in the man's life or death - and nor do many others. That isn't to say I would have wished him ill - I just don't see why I should care. He seemed to have enjoyed life - good for him. This is just the judicial declaration of something that most people assumed long ago.
And if the death of someone I loved was reported on Slashdot, "who gives a fuck" would be an entirely appropriate tag.
More than that - it would be rather creepy if you DID give a fuck. Displays of public grief for people we do not know, but with whom we pretend an intimacy to which we are not really entitled are distasteful and should always be challenged.
I did not tag the article. That said, without wishing Fosset either well, or ill, but just on general principals that this is someone who I did not know, reports of the judicial declaration of death of whom are cluttering up Slashdot, I echo the tag: "Whogivesafuck?"
Am I the only one who likes to dream that... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure it's acceptable (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Inappropriate tagging" (Score:3, Insightful)
It's still tactless to tag the story as "whogivesafuck", but the opinion as such is understandable.
Re:As a pilot, I hate it when... (Score:5, Insightful)
You're being overly literal. That's a generally accepted shorthand for "at least he was engaged in an activity he enjoyed, not rotting away in an Alzheimers ward or in the agonizing throes of cancer". Steve was definitely doing something he loved, save but for the last few minutes.
Re:Inappropriate tagging" (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't really care about him more than about anyone of the countless anonymous deaths. I didn't know him, I lost nothing when he disappeared. And I don't feel bad about it. In fact, I'm annoyed that people care more about a dead rich guy than about a hundred poor ones.
Re:Inappropriate tagging" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:As a pilot, I hate it when... (Score:2, Insightful)
BUT, if he managed to escape it, he surely would think it was 'unfskingomgbelievably AWESOME!!!111'
It may be pretty cool... if you don't get hurt.
Re:The man died with open eyes doing what he loved (Score:3, Insightful)
There aren't many people like him left. One less now that he's gone.
Re:As a pilot, I hate it when... (Score:3, Insightful)
That's a generally accepted shorthand for "at least he was engaged in an activity he enjoyed, not rotting away in an Alzheimers ward or in the agonizing throes of cancer".
Why is that any better? He's still dead. If you were to die from cancer, or some other long term disease, at least you die with the people around you. He died alone, in some unknown place. That's supposed to be "better"?
Re:As a pilot, I hate it when... (Score:4, Insightful)
My dad died alone in his front yard of a sudden, massive heart attack. We didn't get to gather around him, tell stories, and say goodbye as he faded. One day I got a call from my screaming mom, and that was it - he was dead.
Know what? That was better. We were together while he was still alive and healthy, and his family's last memories of him are as we always knew him: strong and happy and himself. I wouldn't change that for the world, and I know inside that he wouldn't either.
So, yeah. Steve Fossett died well.
Re:Inappropriate tagging" (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Jim Gray (Score:3, Insightful)
Billions and Billions... (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is Fossett's wife in a rush to declare that her husband is dead?
Because it's probably pretty hard to run an estate of a billionaire without the guy being dead. Even billionaires have bills to pay.
Re:As a pilot, I hate it when... (Score:1, Insightful)
If someone dies from an OD of recreational drugs, do you go around saying he was "doing what he loved"?
For all we know he could have been bitterly upset about something, made a mistake, and got himself killed.
Given a choice, I think he would have loved coming out alive.
Re:Jim Gray (Score:5, Insightful)
5 months is hardly 'in a rush' - remember with Fosset there are billions on the line and political and legal positioning to grab a slice of it will just pile up more and more the longer she waits. She's doing what needs to be done to protect the estate, as callous as that sounds but it needs to be done. One assumes someone who lives dangerously and has so much money like Fosset has left a will but greedy relatives and business partners can chew it all up in legal bills rather than whatever it was Fosset wanted done with his assets after he was gone.
Re:As a pilot, I hate it when... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:OK That's it (Score:3, Insightful)
As an adventurer, a go-getter, a risk-taker, he inspires us to live.
Ballooning and flying long distances in a plane inspires you to live? I find that kind of sad. I don't need inspiration to live, do you?
The only people that really inspire me are anyone that's tried to change the world for the better. Hell, even Bill Gates is using his billions to do that. This guy has used to his billions for his own pleasure. There's nothing wrong with that, I guess. But I just don't understand why it's so inspiring, or great, or whatever. He's just participating in a giant pissing contest about who can do thing X longer, faster, or bigger.
Evel Knievel did the same thing. I didn't see his death announced on slashdot, and he was a hell of a lot more popular for more years than Fossett.
Re:OK That's it (Score:4, Insightful)
Within days of my daughter's murder somebody posted a message to me on a public forum stating "that bitch got popped."
Do I think that this person literally thought of my daughter as a "bitch?" No, but I do think that the opportunity to feel empowered by pissing me off was hard for them to resist. Unfortunately a lot of people are pricks and if there's the chance that they can appear to be some cool badass by showing how much of a prick they are then they'll jump at it.
Do I truly care about Steve Fossett's death? No, I didn't know him and frankly have far more to worry about. But do I have a sense of decorum when it comes to appreciating the pain that his friends and family are going through? Absolutely - and this wasn't a revelation I arrived at while I grieve but rather my basic human ability to empathize for others.
But then again I have many ways to feel personally empowered without needing to resort to "whogivesafuck" tagging.
And - I'm not a prick.
Drew Crecente
Director, Jennifer Ann's Group
http://www.jenniferann.org/ [jenniferann.org]
Fight Teen Dating Violence!
Re:Wife wanted his will put into effect? (Score:5, Insightful)
You're obviously (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:As a pilot, I hate it when... (Score:3, Insightful)