Can a Special Interest be a person?

Post Reply New Topic

I've had a special interest in Marc Bolan since 2005. It's not as intense as it was before the depressive episode beginning in September 2007 (around the 30th anniversary of his death) but it's still there. I went off him for a while and blamed him for my depression when now I realise he had nothing to do with it.

When I read the biographies of my heroes I study their work, and sometimes run across a sentence or two about family events that may have affected it, such as a marriage or period of mourning. I figure that is what they consider an appropriate degree of sharing about personal matters. I wish they had more to say about how they financed their work sometimes, but that's about it.
Randy Bachman speaks about various rock stars "before becoming" someone famous, as if the public identity is a coat of illusions worn for commercial reasons. Getting involved with fandom seems an utter waste of consciousness to me. I think it is appropriate to take a special interest in a friend or family member, and desirable regarding one's children, but to study more than the work of people we don't know personally is a mistake.