In the 2nd edition of his book, "Fire In The Sky," Travis Walton
mentions the suicide of a famous entertainer, possibly a comedian, but
not by name.  He mentions this in passing, with a certain amount of
disgust, and his comments do not related directly to his narrative
concerning his abduction.  If you cannot isolate the individual
refered to, could you e-mail a list of famous entertainers who
committed suicide in the early '80s?  Walton's comments included one
noting that a great deal was made about this suicide in the press and
he (Walton) was put off by what he saw as unwarranted honor being paid
to a cowardly individual.

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Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 04 Mar 2004 11:06 PST

Would you recall if the famous person was a male or female?

I wonder if Walton may have been referring to the suicide of Dave
Garroway, the first host of the "Today" show. Garroway's suicide in
1982 got a huge amount of media coverage. Everyone seemed shocked,
since Garroway had always presented a persona which was affable,
cheerful and upbeat.

http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/davegarrowayobit.html

Another possibility, though not in the 1980s: comedian Freddie Prinze
committed suicide in 1977, at the height of his fame. The press went
wild speculating about the reasons for Prinze's suicide.

http://www.rotten.com/library/death/suicide/suicide-notes/

I'm guessing he was referring to John Belushi's death in 1982 from a
heroin overdose, though it's a stretch calling it a suicide.

Belushi is an excellent guess, but I don't remember anyone calling it
a suicide. Cathy Smith, the woman who injected Belushi with the fatal
overdose, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

I guess you could say that all drug abusers display a certain
disregard for their lives that might be viewed as a death wish.

Comedian -- I thought of Freddie Prinze:
http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/p/Freddie%20Prinze/freddie_prinze.htm

However, Prinze killed himself in January 1977. There was tremendous
news coverage about his death, but the date is slightly off from
Walton's reference.

Doodles Weaver. Born in Los Angeles, California/USA May 11, 1911 Real Name:
Winstead Sheffield Weaver Died: January 17, 1983 (suicide).
http://www.what-a-character.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=982804445
answerfinder-ga

The two that popped into my head almost immediately were both
comedians of sorts, and I know one was hyped fairly well.

Abbie Hoffman April 1989 swallowed 150 phenobarbital tablets. Author
and political prankster/activist.

Douglas Kenny August 20th 1980, alleged suicide, fell from a crumbling
cliff in Hawaii. Co-founded National Lampoon helped write Animal House
and Caddyshack.