When Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994, Paul McComas was as shocked as anyone that the man voted most likely to be the voice of his generation would choose eternal silence instead. Unlike the rest of us, McComas actually did something about it. Himself a lifetime victim of depression, the Chicago writer devoted himself to suicide prevention both in his fiction and in a program called Rock Against Depression. His first novel, Unplugged, imagines a Cobain-like musician gets an unexpected second chance to change her mind. As a prose stylist, McComas is no Shakespeare, but his writing is intensely emotional, and in this case there’s something to be said for having your heart in the right place. Plus, we hear he’s a dynamic speaker, so his Ruminator gig might be well worth your time.
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