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 →