The New York Times reports that writer, game designer, and filmmaker Theresa Duncan is dead, apparently by suicide. Her partner, artist Jeremy Blake, is still missing, presumably at sea. The police found a note among his folded clothes by the ocean. Theresa Duncan also left a note.

What could the notes have said?

Combing through the recent entries on her blog, The Wit of the Staircase, reveals nothing - as usual. Interestingly, it was because she had stopped posting on her blog that fans and readers suspected that something was wrong.

How does one explain to the living that one no longer wants to be among them? Is it ever possible for those left behind to understand?

The story that emerges from the small details we can piece together seem to sketch a tale that could be the subject of a film. Talented, beautiful artist kills herself; her lover comes home to discover her body; distraught, he goes to the beach, writes a note, takes off his clothes, and swims out into the ocean. Readers of her blog wonder what happened; friends talk to friends of friends; and the police find the body.

I'm not sure there is an end to a story like this.

On a mailing list I'm on, Heather Kelley writes:

Theresa was one of the early "girl games" designers from the mid 90s and was a big inspiration to me at the time. Her work was quirky and smart. She created the decidedly non-pink CD-ROM games Smarty, Chop Suey, and Zero Zero, then she left the games arena to pursue film and animation projects.

I never met her but I'm sad she left.

So am I.

Here is the funeral announcement. Those who feel so moved can also make a donation in her name to The Whitney Museum of American Art, where her oartner Jeremy Blake had three biennial exhibitions. Here's a Salon piece on her transition from game designer to filmmaker and writer. Posted by jane at July 21, 2007 10:20 AM