RIP Crystal Reid Austin (Bismarck Tribune)

[steveu]

God, this is heartbreaking. I didn't see this as a d_b, so I'll link it here. Just got married six days ago.

http://bismarcktribune.com/articles/2009/07/18/news/local/190147.txt

 

[write then drink]

what a sad, sad story

rest in peace

 

[ScribePharisee]

Was she a poster on here? Hope not but at the same time, sad regardless. Six days in wedlock and they don't appear to know what she died from, if I read it correctly?

 

[steveu]

Hey Scribe: No, I don't think she posted on here. She was a business reporter in Bismarck. According to a later story, Crystal had a genetic problem with her vascular system (the autopsy results, anyway)...

 

[RickStain]

I didn't know her personally, but I'd read her work and I knew people who knew her. Very, very sad.

 

[Colton]

Very sad... RIP.

 

[Moderator1]

John Irby, the editor who wrote that, is a good friend of mine. I just sent him a note. Lord, that's awful.

 

[Bears00]

I don't know John Irby, but he did that young lady justice with that article. What a sad story. Sounds like she was one of the good ones.

 

[Harry Doyle]

John Irby, the editor who wrote that, is a good friend of mine. I just sent him a note. Lord, that's awful.

I hate very much to change the subject (and I hope its only briefly) on a threat like this, but is this the same John Irby who taught at Washington State?

Incredible tragedy. Terribly sad that it came six days after her wedding. It seems each tragedy has its own unique twist that makes it that much harder to fathom or accept.

 

[Double J]

Terrible, terrible tragedy. RIP.

I feel for those kids who just got a new mom (although she was already acting in the role, apparently) and now she's gone. Makes you want to cry even though you don't actually know any of the people involved.

 

[Moderator1]

John Irby, the editor who wrote that, is a good friend of mine. I just sent him a note. Lord, that's awful.

I hate very much to change the subject (and I hope its only briefly) on a threat like this, but is this the same John Irby who taught at Washington State?

Incredible tragedy. Terribly sad that it came six days after her wedding. It seems each tragedy has its own unique twist that makes it that much harder to fathom or accept.

Yes. That's how I got to know him. He was part of a program that assigned professors to newsrooms for six weeks and he was sent to ours. Not sure how he felt about it but it was a real bonus for us. John and his son were through here this summer and I was able to catch up with him.

 

[Steak Snabler]

At the risk of speculating, the last line of the obit might give some indication as to her cause of death:

Crystal's family has asked that any donations be made to the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation in her name

A quick wiki search reveals that Ehler-Danlos Syndrome is a connective tissue disorder that can manifest itself in everything from double-jointedness to small, fragile blood vessels.

Anyway, RIP to someone who died way too young.

 

[Guerrillascribe]

Crystal was a fine person and a solid reporter. I knew her for a couple of months last summer when she was on a fellowship in Germany. I was astounded when her colleague at the paper in Bismarck e-mailed me.