Terrible news

I'm devastated to learn that Iris Chang committed suicide. Chang, the 36-year-old author of The Rape of Nanking, suffered from clinical depression, and although it's impossible to say whether her work documenting wartime atrocities contributed to her illness, I know from my own labors that spending a lot of time thinking about violence and mass death is not good for the spirit. I've gotten away from those kinds of inquiries, but I strongly identify with the fascination and outrage that drove Chang's writing.

I'm really sad about this.