Nicholas Hughes, son of poet Sylvia Plath, kills himself

This story is making the rounds pretty quickly on the intertubes this morning: Sylvia Plaths son has reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself, according to this CNN article. As most of you probably know, Sylvia Plath was the very tragic poet who gassed herself to death (in the oven) in 1963.

Nicholas Hughes was a marine biologist working in Alaska and has been suffering from depression:

Frieda Hughes, a poet, author and artist, said in a statement to the newspaper: "It is with profound sorrow that I must announce the death of my brother, Nicholas Hughes, who died by his own hand on Monday March 16, 2009 at his home in Alaska.

"He had been battling depression for some time."

Another famous literary family can’t seem to break the cycle of depression and suicide, much like the family of Ernest Hemingway.

UPDATE: I just came across this article from The Guardian: Nicholas Hughes’s death tells us nothing about Sylvia Plath’s poetry. After reading the article, do you think this makes me guilty of sensationalism?

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