Sorry Terry, you were born with a loaded gun. I wish we could have healed you. I wish we could have taken care of you. I wish you were still here to share your gift with the world.
I’ll install Temple OS on a Raspi in your honor and memory.
I can't explain the sadness I felt when I learned that 4Chan brigades are largely responsible for how quickly his situation deteriorated.
For those who, like me, didn't know, he had begun live-streaming, where he would take call-ins to his landline. It's there that a concerted campaign to get Terry to alienate himself from his parents (with whom he lived) and stop taking his medication. This is not to mention how they egged on romantic feelings for a YouTube personality who they would later impersonate and torture him with in awful ways.
All this led to Terry's parents being unable to house him. They were very old and the situation became impossible. Terry survived on the streets for sometime, meeting up with (genuine and loving) fans along the way. Terry sadly was struck by a train.
We were able to celebrate an eccentric and strange life because of the internet. It also ended it. I hope the internet can heal... I know people like you and I hope it can. It didn't here.
If you want to learn more about Terry's life and death, please check out Fredrick Knudsen's video essay. It is in-depth and important, although very challenging because of the subject matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgoxQCf5Jg
Finally, if you feel like you or someone you care for are in crisis, or might be soon, consider speaking to the folks at NAMI in the US. If you're not in the US, they can direct you to people in your country.
1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or info@nami.org
If the live streams are still up, can we (with the family's blessing) find the people who called in to hurt this man? Would it be okay to publicly name them and link to his suicide and what each individual did?
It feels odd to ask for a punishment via the commons, but this man deserves some measure of justice for his passing.