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“BLING” WRITER ERICA KENNEDY FOUND DEAD
(BlackMediaScoop) We have some very sad news to pass along, Erica Kennedy, a music writer turned novelist who came to national attention in 2004 with the publication of her first novel, “Bling,” was found dead last week at her home in Miami Beach. She was only 42 years old.  Police confirmed Monday that Kennedy, whose full name was Erica Kennedy Johnson, was found dead last week. Miami Beach police received a call a short time after 12 p.m. on Monday, June 11, to come to her apartment, where her body was discovered by maintenance workers from the building, who reported smelling a “foul odor.” “There was no sign of break-in,” Sgt. Bobby Hernandez said. “It could be medical-related or it could be a suicide if we find that she had drugs in her system that’s not conducive to taking a couple extra aspirin, where it’s obvious she ingested a certain drug too much.” Results from toxicology reports take four to six weeks, police said. If the latter is the case, Hernandez added that authorities would interview her relatives to see if she had a history of depression or if she attempted a suicide before. Published by Miramax Books, “Bling” tells the story of a young, innocent mixed-race woman trying to break into the music business. A gifted singer, she is remade in flashy style by a rapacious record mogul. Kennedy was reported to have received an advance of half a million dollars for the novel. Advertisement
“Everybody kept talking about how scandalous that book was,” Kennedy told The New York Times in 2004. “I really didn’t see the big deal. I knew I could write a story about a P. Diddy party and show these people what scandal is really all about.”  “Bling” captured the attention of the news media, partly for its portrayal of a world of flowing Cristal, powder blue Bentleys and platinum teeth, and partly for the fevered guessing game it engendered: Was its hip-hop mogul based on Russell Simmons, a founder of Def Jam Recordings and a friend of Ms. Kennedy’s? Was its foul-tempered supermodel a thinly veiled Naomi Campbell? On these points, Kennedy remained discreetly silent.  Her second novel, “Feminista,” was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2009. That book, a reworking of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew,” did not garner the immense attention of “Bling.”  But Kennedy’s name continued to be included on the small list of writers whose work, which took the tried-and-true genre of chick lit and gave it a specifically black focus, was the logical heir to the novelist Terry McMillan’s. At the end of 2010, Kennedy was named to the Ebony Power 100, a list of influential African-Americans. Kennedy was born Erica Kennedy Johnson on March 24, 1970, and raised in Bayside, Queens. Her father, a pharmaceutical company executive, died when she was 17; her mother was an interior designer. As a teenager, Erica dated a record producer and through him met Mr. Simmons, who gave her entree into hip-hop circles. (In 1998, Kennedy was a bridesmaid at Mr. Simmons’s wedding to Kimora Lee.) After receiving a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 1992, Ms. Kennedy was a publicist for the Tommy Hilfiger fashion house and contributed articles on music to Vibe, InStyle and other magazines.  Kennedy’s survivors include her mother, Mary Mobley Johnson, and a brother, Kirk Johnson. By all accounts, the flash Kennedy portrayed in her fiction had little place in her own life. “My hope is that the next black author gets six figures for this kind of book,” she told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2004. “I just want to be home in sweats and glasses, writing.”
She will be missed… Were you a fan of Ericka? [Edited 6/21/12 9:18am]  will ALWAYS think of  like a "ACT OF GOD"! N another realm. mean of all people who might of been aliens or angels.if found out that wasn't of this earth, would not have been that surprised. R.I.P. | |
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Wow.
I knew the work she did in fashion, but I never even realized that it was the same person who wrote "Bling" (which was heavy with press buzz but I never read it). She was really a beautiful woman. | |
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That is sad.
I've read the book and gave it as a present to somebody just a few days ago!!!
I really admired her.
Actually, I'm a little bit in shock, because I literally talked about her and her book a few days ago. And how I thought she was a great example for so many women.
This is horrible! 99% of my posts are ironic. Maybe this post sides with the other 1%. | |
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Beautiful lady | |
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Very sad. And what a gorgeous woman she was too. | |
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Sad.
I've never heard of this book but I'm going to order it now. | |
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Ashame  Bling is a really great book. The saddest part is that somebody else has probably died of overdose | |
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