"More than a stunning debut. It is the announcement of a bold new literary voice"
—Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

You’ve been dead for three days now. And I feel so sad about it. Especially since you didn’t just die ; you ended your own life. You, wonderful singer of Linkin Park. It caused me quite a shock when I heard it on the news, really. I just couldn’t believe it.

Chester, you were my voice when I didn’t know how to use it.

You and the guys of Linkin Park put words on my pain when I felt really down and couldn’t do it myself. I do believe that you saved a lot of kids out there, by giving them hope, for sure, but also by the mere fact of expressing their pain, through your voices, music and lyrics – those beautiful lyrics, they won’t ever leave me.

I’m not the kind of person who is really keen on festivals and concerts, but god knows I would have loved to see you (a)live on stage. You had such an incredibly powerful & mighty voice. You could be singing, screaming, yelling ; with such a soft voice, sometimes with a comforting gentleness, sometimes an aching tenderness ; or with such an angry voice, shouting out all the pain, the rage, the fear.
Very soon I started to write down the words that your voice delivered into my ear ; I wrote them all over my textbooks, schoolbooks, worksheets ; I wrote them on my walls, into my mind, even into the poems I wrote myself. I’m still writing those words on my windows and walls. I won’t ever forget them. They saved me from the madness of teenagehood and grief.

You chose to end your life, but Chester, your voice is immortal.
And for everything, everything, I want to thank you.