Adam Goldstein

R.I.P. Adam Goldstein

March 30, 1973-August 28, 2009

I was ready to attach a copy of last week's sermon on Ramadan as my weekly [sometimes bi-weekly] blog. While enjoying my latte, muffin, and newspaper this morning I read an article in the entertainment section, which got me teary-eyed...

Up until this point in 2009 Bea Author and Mask's [Charles "Mask" Lewis from Tap Out MMA Gear] deaths have deeply saddened me most this year. Both of these people impacted my life through their contributions in Hollywood, and I shed tears for their deaths and actually thanked God for their positive and uplifting impact in my life [fame isn't always bad].

Sadly, I'm adding another name to this list...this past Friday Adam Goldstein was found dead in his NYC apartment on Friday evening from an apparent drug overdose. Adam was 36 years old. This kind of obituary would go unnoticed, except Adam Goldstein is better known as DJ AM, an internationally famous DJ.

Unlike Bea Author and Mask, DJ AM's Hollywood contributions didn't make a any impact on my life. But, Adam Goldstein's untimely death at age 36 greatly impacts me because of his unlived life, the life that he will never get to live out or know.

I've followed DJ AM's career for years now, not because I'm a huge DJ fan, but because I couldn't help but reading about and watching him. The internet, magazines, and newspapers constantly included articles about where he was working or partying. One thing is clear during the last few years DJ AM never stood still; he was very hard-working.

Last year Adam and rocker Travis Barker survived a horrific plane crash in GA [maybe SC] that killed four members of their crew. Both Adam and Travis escaped with some major and life-threatening injuries. Since the crash these men have completed physical rehabilitation and re-ignited their careers.

Some reports say Adam has always used some kind of drug and allegedly died from a drug overdose, a sure sign that something was amiss in his life. In further reading about Adam's life, some of his friends also said he had been diagnosed with PTSD, resulting from the plane accident a year ago. But, long before that Adam's father died from AIDS when Adam was still a child.

From Mr Chao's in Beverley Hills, to shenanigans in Vegas, to million-dollar incomes...Adam's death shows that no one [even a multi-million dollar star] is above the great equalizer.

For as much as DJ AM played the Hollywood game and lived the Hollywood life, Adam was still human. In the same respect, as much as Lindsey Lohan is crazy... somewhere inside there is a cute red-headed freckled little girl who longs to be loved genuinely and cared for unconditionally.

Hollywood is interesting because there is a "fake life" in which the entire world is interested, and there is "real life" that is the seam to the soul. I could care less about DJ AM's fake Hollywood life; it is Adam Goldstein's sudden death that breaks my heart. Like Heath Ledger before him and Kurt Cobain before him, these men died in the fake Hollywood world without knowing what real and true Peace is.

In the midst of PTSD, drug addiction, broken hearts, love triangles, family dysfunction, and low self-esteem there were these beautiful and talented men who knew no Peace. Whose lives went partially unfulfilled and ended way too early.

I suppose I first fell in love with Adam Goldstein because his real name was always included with his stage name. And, before you think I'm stalker-crazy, by "love" I mean the same kind of love I have for my fellow neighbor, and compassionate and caring love that surpasses all understanding. In reading about Adam Goldstein along with DJ AM, I never forgot the real man behind this Hollywood DJ. This man longed for peace for which we all ache. My heart truly goes for this man's family and friends who have to come to grips with his sudden death.

My prayers go out to everyone his life touched.