the OP made a good point about the legions of unlamented lost which don't rate airtime or print space, but are still equally human and deserving of remembrance. but most humans can't really focus on more than a few people at any time, and the bright and flashy attracts the most attention. when carl sagan [RIP] passed, i didn't know him or know that much about him but just the same, there was just something about him, a charisma, that drew me in, and i felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest when he passed, it literally took my breath away. but i will admit that i didn't feel anything like that visceral kind of distress when ms. houston died. i did not care for her music but i did recognize that she was an exceptional talent and scion/relation of talented folk. poor whitney had her demons like lots of other folks, but she had to fight with 'em in the public eye which [along with piles of easy cash to indulge every good and bad whim] is the great moral tester and amplifier of accumulated insecurities. her voice had notably deteriorated in the last few years, and along with her failed "easy come, easy go" finances, this could not have made her feel too good or secure with her life. in this sense, she was like this generation's elvis, and the people who responded most acutely to her passing, were aware of these things and felt for her in this way also. her spirit was insufficiently developed to deal with celebrity and all that goes with it. all one can say about all of this is, "what a perverse hellworld we all live in."