Jerry Heidenreich Took His Own Life Yesterday in Dallas

I met Jerry when I was in Dallas writing an article on Kenneth Cooper for Men's Journal magazine. Jerry was the masters coach right there at the Cooper Center for Aerobic Fitness campus, and he very kindly let me swim a couple practices with his team. I didn't get to know him beyond the merest acquaintanceship level, but you could tell from his swimmers he was much liked and highly respected. For reasons I can't fathom, spring is a season where suicide is particularly common. A high school kid in my hometown recently ended his life; it seems to me a lot of my friends are having an uptick in depression this time of year. As great as masters swimming is for mood elevation in general, sometimes brain chemistry can get pretty far out of whack, and you may need more than physical activity alone to get out of the woods. There have been great strides in the recent decades in seeing depression and other emotional disorders as medical illness (not character weaknesses) that can be successfully treated. I pray that anybody out there who is struggling with what may seem to be insurmountable problems go to your doctor and get some help. You can find out a lot more about depression and anxiety disorders at the National Institute of Mental Healths excellent web site: www.nimh.nih.gov If Jerry's death can help one person get the help they need, it would be a great legacy.

The Chicago Tribune ran a thorough and compassionate piece about Jerry Heidenreich in their Friday paper (May 17th). The article can be accessed at: www.chicagotribune.com/.../chi-0205160400may17.story

for some reason that link got shortened. here it is again: www.chicagotribune.com/.../chi-0205160400may17.story

now wait a minute. i checked and double checked ... it looked fine here in the typing box and then got truncated on the way to being posted. What is that? www.chicagotribune.com/.../chi-0205160400may17.story www.chicagotribune.com/.../chi-0205160400may17.story

all i can say is after the tribune.com/ is as follows: features/chi-0205160400may17.story If this one doesn't work just go to www.chicagotribune.com and search under Heidenreich. You will find the article. that's how I found it on line. Does anyone know why this url keeps getting ... inserted for some of the characters? thx.

When you post a long link the forum software shortens what appears on your screen so that it will be a one-liner - but the complete url link is there in the background - simply click on the "truncated" link and it works fine. Unfortunately, those with email notification get only what's displayed on the screen, not the underlying link.

I lied. If you cut and paste from the forum you get only what's on the screen, not the underlying link. EWmail notification people get the whole link.

thanks emmett i see now ... just tried it and it works fine (my browser even shows the whole link in my status bar) ... oops.