Driven to suicide?

I count Eric Ringsred as a friend. We haven’t talked since about two years ago when he called me out of the blue and asked me, since I like to sing, if I’d be interested in getting a bunch of kids from church together to go Christmas caroling. Eric wears his heart on his sleeve. He also puzzles and confounds conformists. Letting a strip club into his Norshore theater is just one example of this.

Yesterday his tennant Jim Gradisher committed suicide. Eric, who feels a little responsible for his friend’s death has lashed out at others he feels are responsible. He called Brandon Stahl, a DNT reporter I rather favor, and blasted him then sent an accusatory letter to many City leaders which Stahl includes in full on his blog. Thankfully Stahl does not take issue with Eric. He simply lets Ringsred’s letter speak for itself.

Its not popular sticking up for folks in the skin trade. Another of my political acquaintances, Jerry Arnold trained the Federal Government on Duluth’s previous absentee porn lord Ferris Alexander. I’ve got my own complicated thoughts about the skin trade especially now that so many people are offering theirs up for free on youtube videos.

Last year I was embarrassed to jump to a very wrong conclusion about Mr. Gradisher when the Trib reported a dead body had been found at his home. At the time he was in the news every other day and I was sure he had committed suicide and uploaded a post suggesting that the Trib’s stories had driven him to it. I was wrong. I was premature.

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