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Her words live on

17 comments on Her words live on

Her words live on
: An AOL journaler dies in an auto accident with her new love and a friend comes onto her blog to tell her online friends the terrible news. [via Scalzi]

: Update: See the discussion in the comments on whether this is legitimate. I hate such discussions. People wondered whether Salam Pax was real even as the bombs were falling on him. People wonder whether this is real. It’s an important part of what we do as a community: This is fact-checking the new way. But it’s (a) sick if someone made this up and (b) sad that we have to wonder.

17 responses to “Her words live on”

  1. hugh macleod Avatar
    hugh macleod

    Very sad.
    I think we’ll be seeing more links like this in the future.
    Just an off-topic point here: Is it just me or is AOL’s blog format too proprietorial? “It’s not a blog, it’s an AOL Personal Journal” or whatever.
    A lot of the big companies don’t let their users brand themselves enough. I think it’s a mistake- it makes the user appear less human- less “Leslie”, more “Another AOL User using our Neat-O stuff.”
    Apologies for the diversion. I’m so sorry for the poor woman and her boyfriend- though her friend blogging about it in her place… kinda nice, wasn’t it?

  2. Jim Rittenhouse Avatar
    Jim Rittenhouse

    I think you’ve been scammed. Looking at the AOL journal, it’s obviously faked.

  3. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Jim:
    I did not take the time to dig into it; I looked at the blog and read the latest entry and took Scalzi’s report. What’s the evidence?

  4. Mike G Avatar
    Mike G

    I don’t think it’s obviously faked, but I think it’s possibly faked, just on the basis of the lack of corroborating details (if there was a city we could track down the accident, etc.) It gives off a definite whiff of this story:
    On the other hand, it could be true, too.

  5. Mike G Avatar
    Mike G

    Whoops, guess I did the link wrong. Anyway, do a Google search for “life death everquest” and you’ll get the Salon story I was trying to point to.

  6. KMK Avatar
    KMK

    I don’t know how faked the journal is but my buddy lives in Denver so I asked him if he heard anything about the accident. He gets three newspapers Rocky Mountain News, The Daily Camera, and the Denver Post. Nothing about the accident and no obituaries with a Paul or a Raven in them. He also said it hasn’t been on the news (TV). So, who knows.

  7. andy Avatar
    andy

    I live in Denver and haven’t heard anything about a crash of this nature either, not that that proves anything. A search of the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, and Daily Camera online turns up nothing with the name Raven though. Ah well, perhaps a little mystery to solve if someone has the time.
    If it is fake, I think an investigation into the workings of the mind that dreams up such a thing might be in order though.

  8. megnut Avatar
    megnut

    Oddly enough, I felt it was fake too (granted I haven’t read more than the last four entries), especially the “there’s no memorial or wake, her ashes will be scattered bit.” While that’s obviously possible, having gone through the whole Kaycee Nicole hoax in May 2000, I am now more than a little suspicious about things. A quick search of Google News doesn’t turn up any story or obituary for any 30 year old woman in the Denver area. Also, those photos look very professional. Was Raven a model?
    In the Kaycee Nicole saga, the woman behind it claimed she was using the blog to educate readers about cancer. Assuming it’s fake, perhaps Raven’s creator is using the site to teach us the dangers of drugging and driving?

  9. Dperry Avatar
    Dperry

    Well, the pictures certainly are fake, anyway. See attached URL (WARNING: Scantily clad female images ahead. May not be suitable for viewing at work or in the presence of significant others.) Scroll down to the bottom of the page. The pictures in question are in the third and fourth rows, both all the way to the right.
    http://www.modelshomepage.com/angelie.html

  10. Jane Avatar
    Jane

    I wanted to volunteer to take her little puppy (with proper remuneration, of course) to keep my little Maltese company. I searched also and nothing came up. I was impressed that already at three months, the puppy is house trained. Maltese are notorious for being very diffcult to train — they also keep “forgetting”! Hah, I think it is just their independence!

  11. Mike G Avatar
    Mike G

    Very good, DPerry! I would be VERY surprised if this turned out to be true now. You’ve got fake photos of a supermodel, an unlikely porn-star first name, an unverifiable accidental death which (cue the violins) comes at the moment of greatest poignance, just as the woman who says she can’t find love finds her true love… calling the Lifetime channel, this is pure fiction.

  12. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    mother of teenager here–this is harlequin romance stuff–i’d bet you have a teenage girl here whose gotten busted by her parents and has written the melodramatic ending she needed to pull the plug on this.

  13. Mike G Avatar
    Mike G

    This, on the other hand– this is tragic.
    http://www.shortandhappy.com/amber/index.htm

  14. Thomas Avatar
    Thomas

    Hoax or not, it will be happening a buddy of mine died last year I still haven’t let myself pull his blog from my blogroll, nor have I visited the site, but it’s nice to know my friends words are still out there.

  15. JK Avatar
    JK

    Obvious fake.

  16. Mike G Avatar
    Mike G

    You’re obviously fake, too.

  17. JFT Avatar
    JFT

    And she was killed on her 31st birthday, purportedly.
    So the methed-up driver lived, apparently?