Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Nomad and Joel

The Lost Nomad has links related to Shawn's death. One link, to a Chinese-language news service (would anyone care to translate?), is in the "view at your own discretion" category.

I'm between classes (yes, I'm holding classes on a holiday so that I don't have to make them up during my summer vacation), and staring at a copy of Shawn's book, Island of Fantasy, just shaking my head. Damn.

Joel writes a fine piece about Shawn here.

Jelly offers her wisdom here.


_

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I still can't believe it. As Joel put it, the internet is indeed a weird place. I never met Shawn, but like Joel, I exchanged a few emails with him and also followed some of his stories over on KLB. He seemed so much happier with his new life in China, so this sudden turn of events was quite shocking.

Stafford said...

sorry this is a pretty crude translation:

Foriegn (American) Teacher falls 15 floors to death.

Police: Initial conclusion; Teacher jumped from top floor (roof?)
of Building.
American EMbassy: Presently processing details

News (Rporter Ye Huiqin won |Cheng Huaixi zhang|Yingchaun)

A young American teaching in Beijing fell to his death, 15 floors from the #16 Jin Xinglu building, Beijing.
This reporter understands it followed a phone call from his home containing bad news(??)

The reporter looked at the scene from the #4 building...?...a large pool of blood around the head

The victim's blood was found on windows on the 11th and 9th floor corridor windows, but both the victim's foot and fingerprints were found on the roof of the building. Police have initially judged he jumped from the roof.

The body was discovered by ......(someone who works in a convenience store at the apartment complex??)...approx. 50 minutes to talking to the reporter at about 3pm. ....(The worker)....saw a body lying prone across an eve from the elevator window and recognised it as the young American man on the 11th floor

"He often comes into my store and he is usually....??...., yesterday he looked as if he had the flu, I offered to cook him a meal but already had a dinner engagement at 7 o'clock with members of my extended family" said ....(The worker)

He subsequently alerted police. He tells this reporter [the victim] is a 25 year old American teaching at a foriegn language school.

The woman (convenience store worker) tells this reporter that the victim had purchased two international calling cards earlier in the day and that
"His employer school knew he had received some bad news from The States and that he was taking several days leave off of work...?...."
She also mentions that his mother had an accident.

Jason said...

The description in the linked news report is pretty gruesome, but sadly that's what passes for Chinese journalism these days. Truly a shame.

R said...

I am fucking dumbfounded.

What a horrific thing to do.

I feel so sorry for his family and those that really knew him.