Death by CD

[snopes]

Comment: This reeks of "urban legend." Have you seen it and/or can you
verify it? I've only been able to track it down in some opera listservs
and blogs, but nothing that looks original or authentic.

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Wosenham Gazette Mid-Week edition 13 March 2007

"Music lover's tragic demise

Harold Skimpton-James, 43, who was found dead in his home in November
2005, suffered death by misadventure according to the verdict recorded
last week by the coroner's court. Mr Skimpton-James had a fatally severed
neck caused by the collapse of hundreds of CDs. Numerous stacks piled to
the ceiling remained intact in all rooms, including bathroom and toilet.

Mr Skimpton-James, a recluse who had made a small fortune from a patent on
a remote analysis scanner used in food processing, was found dead at 14
Clive Close near Wosenham Common still clutching a CD of Mahler's ninth
symphony, appropriately called 'Symphony of Thousands'. This was still
sealed in its sleeve, as was most of his vast classical music collection.

Neighbour Mrs Harriet Lester said that Mr Skimpton-James may not have left
his house for about five years and had everything delivered, including his
CDs by mail order. Music could be heard coming from his house virtually
around the clock, although not sufficiently loud to cause nuisance. No
music had been heard in the week before he was found dead and this had
prompted concerned local residents to call in the authorities.

Mr Ron Duttles, the council's community safety adviser, said that most
accidental deaths occurred at home and that the Community Safety Panel
would be considering whether to amend its public safety information
leaflet.

Mr Skimpton-James is survived by his sister, Jenny, who lives in Little
Wosenham and shares his love of music, particularly the German classicists
like Mahler. She told the Gazette that her brother's death was a terrible
tragedy, not least in having left behind so much music that he had never
heard. Miss Skimpton-James thought she might have difficulty finding space
for such a large CD collection as she already has many CDs of her own,
although these are stored safely in proper shelving."

[Victoria J]

It doesn't sound that unlikely to me - just a version of those people swamped by books or papers but with a more modern technology. There have certainly been deaths and injuries of book collectors in a similar manner.

(I keep track because I am a bit of a compulsive book hoarder and my mother is mush worse. My mother at some point started sleeping with books - there is a row of them on one side of her bed. I now have kitchen cabinets filled with books as I try to clear enough floor space to be able to assemble my new book cases. My father's best friend is worse - he once lived somewhere that had a spare room which was entirely lined with bookshelves except for a wardrobe. The wardrobe was full of books.)

The only bit that sounds dodgy to me is :

Originally Posted by snopes

...still clutching a CD of Mahler's ninth
symphony, appropriately called 'Symphony of Thousands'. This was still
sealed in its sleeve, as was most of his vast classical music collection.

Victoria J

[Richard W]

Wosenham doesn't appear to exist, let alone the Wosenham Gazette. The only reference to it is in the same story on this blog:

http://bbtosyrny.blogspot.com/

(edit) Oh, and here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group.../message/23863

although for some reason that doesn't show up in a search for Wosenham Gazette.

Also the only occurences of the name "Skimpton-James" that Google lists are three copies of this story.

[Victoria J]

Also some judicious googling shows that Mahler's 9th symphony is not known as the "symphony of thousands" though that term is sometimes applied to the 8th symphony.

Don't know whether that adds anything, but having spent all of 30 seconds on research I wish to share my new found knowledge.

Victoria J

[Troberg]

While many CD's can be quite heavy (trust me, I bought over 400 when I was abroad, and had to carry them in the luggage, and I even ditched the boxes), a single CD does not weigh much. This means that when they hit, it's not likely to be a single heavy blow, more like a rapid succession of tiny blows. I find in unlikely that it would break a neck. Of course, the event may cause someone to slip and break the neck, but that's a little bit different than the story as told.

[High Eight]

Originally Posted by Victoria J

(I keep track because I am a bit of a compulsive book hoarder and my mother is mush worse. My mother at some point started sleeping with books - there is a row of them on one side of her bed. I now have kitchen cabinets filled with books as I try to clear enough floor space to be able to assemble my new book cases. My father's best friend is worse - he once lived somewhere that had a spare room which was entirely lined with bookshelves except for a wardrobe. The wardrobe was full of books.)

Victoria J

That sounds like me - my flat is decorated in 'early literary'. I even have a bookcase in the bathroom. Luckily, my landlord doesn't seem to mind.