Anyone else ever been upset by the death of a momoir-ist?

I agree completely. I told my friend about it immediately after I found out, and her response sums it up perfectly: "Wow, that's actually a legitimate loss!" I'm definitely mourning the guy. He was a true prize for the literary world, and no one else will ever use words quite like he did. In a way, though, I like that the literary world promotes much less voyeurism than the musical world, i.e. no crazed fans buying tickets to this great man's funeral and disrupting his family's mourning, i.e. no overdone slews of tributes on TV until people get so tired of it, they cry in frustration, "I don't CARE that he's dead anymore! Just stop it!" But a small, dignified show of respect for the late and great Frank McCourt is definitely in order.