DAVID MILLS: We all have been enriched through the years from the work of David Mills, whether through his Undercover Black Man blog (and his occasional commenting here, esp. during Bee season) or his superior television writing -- NYPD Blue, The Wire, The Corner, Homicide: Life on the Street, ER and the upcoming Treme. As Isaac wrote last May when David temporarily shut down the blog to focus on Treme, "A guy who spends a decade writing for some of the best-written shows on television needn't waste his talent and time blogging. It's more important that he generate great stuff that we amateurs can blog about." And yet, soon enough, David was back blogging again, and we'd email back and forth on discoveries of new Misidentified Black People and Giant Negroes in the NYT archives.
So I am stunned and saddened beyond words to have to report that on the eve of Treme's premiere, David has died of brain aneurysm in the city of New Orleans at the age of 48.
Just a few weeks ago, David told the New York Times: “I’m a fan of TV. I can even watch an episode of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ and appreciate the way it’s constructed to satisfy you. People used to think, It’s HBO; you get to curse; it’s gotta be better. But I wrote for The Washington Post. Just because there are certain words you can’t use in The Post that, say, you can in The Village Voice, does not mean that the writing in The Village Voice is necessarily better than The Post. The liberty you have with HBO has nothing to do with the quality of storytelling. You have to earn it.”
His resume as a storyteller speaks for itself, and we will always have his tv shows and the archives writing to enjoy. Still, what a terrible loss. So, so sad. Alan Sepinwall has much more, calling Mills "the very first friend I made in the TV business, and one of the few for whom I wouldn't have to put quote marks around the word."
This makes me very, very sad. I loved most of those shows in real time, and I have heard very glowing words about Treme. If television has surpassed movies as a medium in the last decade and a half, it is because of writers like Mills.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful writeup. I feel lucky as a reader and viewer to have experienced his great talent and passion for music and television. He's an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThis is so so so so sad. David Mills was a brilliant and beautiful writer on the blog and on my television and televisions everywhere will be emptier with his passing.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked and saddened. Rest In Peace, UBM.
ReplyDeleteHorrible, horrible news. A fine writer and sounded like a most excellent man. Interesting point of his journalism career, according to the NYT, was that he conducted the infamous Sister Souljah interview in 1992 that caused all the ruckus.
ReplyDeleteSo very, very sad - particularly that he didn't get to see Treme premiere.
ReplyDeleteIndeed this is sad news. I was a big fan of his blog, esp. the MBP.
ReplyDeleteI am incredibly sad about this loss. Such a talented writer, just gone far too soon.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. I had corresponded with him some - my best friend from college is a P-Funk historian, and had corresponded fairly extensively with Mr. Mills. His interviews, their central role in both the Professor Griff and Sister Souljah controversies had me give him the nickname "Black Zelig." I will miss his writing.
ReplyDeleteThe man was immensly talented, but what always struck me was his gigantic, unstoppable joie de vivre. RIP.
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