Indie icon Morrissey has written an open letter to praise the life of one of his best known fans.
Morrissey fans are strange people. The former Smiths icon boasts an extremely loyal fan base, who seem to have created a little sub-culture of their own.
Amongst the foremost members of the Morrissey universe was Melinda Hsu, who passed away on April 12th. The fan wrote for fanzines, was a constant presence on message boards and at concerts by the singer.
Sadly passing away, Morrissey has taken the usual step of openly paying tribute to the fan. Published on the fan site True To You the letter explained that the singer would often hand his microphone to Hsu during concerts.
“I did not know Melinda personally, but I felt as if I did,” Morrissey wrote. “(She) was a smiling face who lent strength to every single concert, even when events were going somewhat pear-shaped.”
“I felt as if I knew Mel because she was always there – regardless of wherever ‘there’ happened to be; no snowbound landscape too far, no off-the-beaten track too untrekkable … She had heard these live renditions enough times to emaciate the brain of the most inherently decent devotee.”
Finishing, Morrissey paid tribute to Melinda Hsu’s talents as a designer with the fan making her own calendars and t-shirts.
“Rich in ideas, her self-made calendars and T-shirts were always very funny … Most people are standardised and unoriginal, which is useful, because it makes the Mels of the world stand out even more.”
A memorial service for Melinda Hsu takes place on May 15th.
