A blog post is an awful way to be informed of bad news. My apologies if this message falls into that category for you. Please brace yourself if you haven't already heard about Syracuse rock 'n' roll singer Jack Lipton.
Over Labor Day weekend, I received a text from a friend, an urgent request to call as soon as I could. I called back immediately, and that's how I found out that Jack Lipton, lead singer of the Penetrators and a longtime friend of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, had taken his own life.
Words fail. I was a fan of the Penetrators, ever since I heard their first single "Gotta Have Her"/"Baby Dontcha Tell Me" upon its release in 1979. Other mutual friends were closer to Jack than I was, but Jack and I were on good terms; my sense of loss doesn't compare to what others may feel at this time, but my heart goes out to them. I feel what I feel, and that's bad enough.
I've been trying--half-heartedly, and heavy-heartedly--to write something about Jack. I can't do it. Maybe later, maybe never, but absolutely not now. For the moment, I'll look back on things I wrote years ago about Jack's work, here and here. Dana and I will play a few songs, and we will mourn in the manner that fits us.
But this larger point needs to be said, again and again: Suicide is devastating; its pain goes beyond those who've left us, and it can haunt its survivors. I've felt this sting before, more than once. And when it happens, you wonder if there was anything you could have done that might have helped.
Maybe there was. Maybe there wasn't. You'll never be certain.
If you know someone going through this terrible ache, this pressure toward deciding that the only way out of life's misery is to end that life entirely, or if you're feeling this horrible ache yourself...there is support available. Your friends and family may be able to listen, and they may be able to help. There is also, always, the Suicide and Crisis Hotline, which can be reached by dialing 988.
Someone will listen. Somewhere, someone will listen. Your life is worth saving. Our lives are worth saving.
Rest easy, Jack. This one's in your memory.
This is what rock 'n' roll sounded like on yet another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This show is available as a podcast.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO).
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