Just hours ago, my local paper reported that Robin Williams is dead, found in his home in Tiburon, California, just miles from my home. Here in Marin County, where I live, reside many famous people, musicians and actors most notable among them. But none is as beloved a native son as Robin Williams. The notification from the Marin County Sheriff Coroner’s division describes Williams’ death by asphyxiation as suspected suicide. Williams was found dead at noon today after a 9-1-1 call was placed from the home at 11:55 a.m. The Marin County Sheriff’s Office, the Tiburon Fire Department and the Southern Marin Fire Protection District all sent emergency personnel to the scene, arriving almost immediately at 12:00 pm. Williams lived in the home, on the Tiburon peninsula with his wife, Susan Schneider, but it isn’t clear if she was present in the home the night he died. Williams had wed Schneider, a graphic designer, in the nearby Napa Valley on October 23, 2011. ”I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings,” said Schneider. “I am utterly heartbroken.”
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