For me and hundreds of others, this death has left a huge hole in my heart. At times Dean's shadow, suivante, confidante, alter-ego, giggle partner, partner in crime, and groupie, 21 years later, I've lost a major role model, a friend who was more like the older brother I never had. A true meanie at times, Dean nonetheless always tried to point me in the direction of personal freedom and happiness. For whatever reason, he took me under his wing in the mid 80's/early 90's era that he described as colorful but not warm - overwhelmingly sad, in fact - an era he didn't much like being reminded of. But we both survived that. And I too try to avoid thinking about the pain of that era, no matter how exciting it felt at the time. My regret is that I didn't respond to his latest email of Sept 5, in which he told me about his roaring return to prominence on the "scene", his joy and happiness at being back in the recording studio, and all the good things that were going on in his life. Moral of the story: if you love someone deeply, remind them of that as soon as you possibly can.