By Brooke Champagne
Brooke Champagne is an instructor of English and the Assistant Director of First-Year Writing at The University of Alabama. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative nonfiction from Louisiana State University. While she makes her living as a teacher, she is a perennial student of writing, religion, and language, including REL 419 in Spring 2014.
On July 13, 2013, 31-year-old Glee star Cory Monteith died of a heroin and alcohol overdose. He was found alone in the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel in Vancouver accompanied only by two empty bottles of champagne, a spoon, and a used hypodermic needle. That harrowing final image does not comport with the one we see above: a strong, confident quarterback in his prime. Any minute he could drop back for a pass, or, knowing Glee, break into song. Continue reading