Reports that Barry Hannah Passed Away

The Oxford Eagle in Oxford, Mississippi is reporting that Barry Hannah passed away today. This is just days before this weekend’s Oxford Conference for the Book dedicated to scholarly discussions and celebrations of Barry’s work.

It looks like details are still somewhat sketchy. I’m making some calls to try and find out more. There’s a part of me that’s hoping this is some sort of mistake, or a bad hacker prank, or something since there isn’t any reference to this elsewhere in other news sources.

I can’t even begin to process this. I was blessed enough to study with Barry for almost five years as I worked my way through undergrad and graduate school and I’m at a loss for words.

Sad, sad news. I’ll try to get it together by tomorrow to have something coherent to say.

UPDATES:
The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, MS is reporting that that the cause of death was an “apparent heart attack.”