I can't say that I was affected by anyone's passing on the day that it happened. For me it was always afterward and usually based on some form of fascination with the person's work. Brandon Lee was a big one for me but perhaps it was more my affliction after reading and watching The Crow.

When I was very young it was Freddie Mercury. I loved his voice and his music marks the time when I passed from being a tween to a young adult. A coming of age sort of thing.

I remember the morning of Di's death clearly, however. I slept over at my then BF's house and woke up early to find his grandmother, still in her nightie, stumbling around the passages. She wore a stricken expression on her face and the only words that she could utter were: "Di is dead."

At first I thought she meant one of her friends but it turned out to be the princess.

What amazed me about the woman's death was the way it affected many people here in SA. I felt numb. Many people watched the funeral and cried at the passing of a woman they didn't know. It didn't seem real.