RIP Whitney

[DPS Computing]

Today, we have had the sad news that singing sensation and legend Whitney Houston has died aged 48.

It definitely is a sad day and although she had many problems, she should be praised for being successful and one of the greatest singers of all time despite the issues she faced. Her music will continue to live on long after her death and my thoughts go out to her family, especially her 18 year old daughter.

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”. RIP Whitney Houston.

[Ben Stones]

Can't say anything about Whitney as I don't really know her, though I know she was a very well-known music artist. While it is fairly justified to be upset about our favourite artists and celebrities dying who may have made some great music, it is still paramount to think that we concentrate more on this sort of thing than ourselves, our family, people that are suffering and the work charities and organisations do around the world which may largely not be included in journalistic publications because it is more interesting for readers to hear about the latest celebrity "scandals", as the press like to term it.

Nevertheless, Whitney is a human being and I hope her family are okay. And the press leave them alone. I wouldn't be surprised if the press are all over the family; calling them, blah blah blah. Leave them alone for a bit, for god sake. Their needs comes before your publication needs.

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”.

That is a great saying - and makes perfect sense! You can create a legacy of good that will last for generations to come. I'm just using this as an abstract example but take Apple. Steve Jobs is no longer around, and he knew his time was limited, so he created an internal "Apple University" to teach new employees about how Apple works, how Apple is successful and what other companies in the same industry (or other industries) have done that have caused them to lose their identity, lose relevance or gone out of business because of a shift of management from the original founder(s), etc etc etc. And that was a very good decision of Steve to make.

[DPS Computing]

I can partially agree with what you are saying.

But it isn't just about the person herself, although it is a great loss to the entire world to lose someone of such immense talent. It's also the knock on effects that happen due to that persons death.

Lets consider one aspect of this with Whitney Houston.

In 1989 she set up the Whitney Houston Foundation For Children. This charity has helped children world wide but has focused on children from less than perfect backgrounds who don't have the same benefits that a lot of us take for granted.

Through the money that she poured into this charitable organisation it worked around the world to help children fight cancer and HIV/AIDS. It aids sick children in general as well as children who are homeless or who have lost their parents. It works towards the prevention of child abuse and intervention. It teaches children who have been unable to be fully educated and helps with skills such as literacy and numeracy. It has built parks and playgrounds in areas where these are lacking or their isn't the finance to support them. It hosts Christmas events and parties to ensure homeless children have a place to go during the festive period.

Although this work may continue, it has lost it's major source of funding and its leader. For every single, album, tour, film and performance more money was being put into this wonderful organisations hands.

Had she lived many more years and no doubt continued her immense success, there would have been thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands maybe even millions more children in the above situations helped out of them and have their quality of life dramatically improved.

So although I can understand partially where you are coming from, it isn't just the death of a immensely talented and well loved celebrity. It is the many children, both now and in the future, that will unable to be helped by this great woman .