Morrissey Writes Open Letter to Late Super Fan

Even as Morrissey battles health issues (double pneumonia – yikes!) that forced him to postpone yet another batch of gigs in San Francisco and Mexico City earlier this week, he's putting fans first. Or at least one fan, as the pompadoured icon has written and posted an open letter to Margaret Dale, a super fan who died recently. Dale famously traipsed all over the globe to catch the former Smiths frontman in concert, and in his note, he praises her steadfast dedication, love and support, calling her a "woman of action."

Moz may have been referring to the fact that Dale traveled to see him everywhere from the U.K to Israel. She even had his signature tattooed on her arm as recently as last week. Now that's dedication.

Dale's cause of death has not been revealed -- and Morrissey doesn't mention it in his letter -- but some reports (not to mention the the heavyhearted tone of Mozzer's missive) suggest suicide.

Moz refers to "taking your destiny into your own hand," which could simply be another reference to Dale being a woman of action. He may have also meant she was a "doer" when it came to living her life. Or, he could have been commenting on her choosing to take her life -- if that's in fact what she did -- which can be viewed as the ultimate act of taking control. It's not clear, and while it's unfair to speculate further, it does make us think of the Smiths classic 'Asleep,' which deals with suicide.

Moz's unedited letter is as follows:

I did not know Margaret on a personal level, but she was always there on the front row - the U.K., the U.S., Israel - wherever we'd go, she'd go. Last week Margaret drove behind the tour bus all the way from Davis to Seattle, and managed to get onstage at Davis. I had signed her arm and it was now a tattoo. This week she is dead.
I can only hope, for Margaret, that death yields the profit of rest, and somehow provides her with a listener. We all weary of living in the same skin day after day, in a world where only the blandly trivial are allowed to be heard, but there is nothing wrong with taking your destiny into your own hands, just as there is nothing wrong in understanding what is meant for you and what isn't. We are plonked into life without ever choosing to be, and we are despised if we fail to find a paralyzed spot in which to keep still and shut up. Margaret was a woman of action, who now knows the soul of the world.
Meanwhile, on today's AOL News Page, headlines tell us that Victoria Beckham has reportedly dropped her "fake" look, and William and Kate are in search of yet another home - the constitutional frigidity of a media world now openly obsessed with zombies and morons.
Rest well, Margaret.
Morrissey
Mexico
13 March 2013