Noted sportswriter Mike Penner died on Friday, November 27, 2009, from officially undisclosed causes, although suicide has been reported in the mainstream press. Penner was 52 years old.
Mike Penner wrote for the Los Angeles Times for 25 years, and was praised generously by those he had worked with. One of sportswritings most versatile scribes, Penner was well known for the breadth of his coverage. Towards the end of his career, he became well-known additionally for announcing his decision to transition to female, adopting the name Christine Daniels. Penner was generally supported by his colleagues in this decision, and blogged about his life experience becoming a woman. Eventually Penner returned to his original name, dropped his blog, and continued writing about sports for the Times. (For that reason I am referring to him as “him” in this obituary, since that is apparently what he himself was doing.)
Unhappiness in one’s gender is a difficult and life-changing condition, and Penner must be saluted for the bravery he showed in dealing with gender and sexuality issues. Such a struggle is all the more difficult for a public figure such as a well-known journalist. We do not yet know the circumstances or reasons for his death, but we can mourn this sad and premature end to his personal journey. Rest in peace, Mr. Penner.
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Bob Hayes is the senior partner at DocRocket, a web content and writing services company. He is a freelance business consultant with particular expertise in software, Internet business development, and operational efficiency. In addition he maintains a personal blog at Bob Hayes Online.
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5 users commented in " Mike Penner, RIP "
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Then again, he had to deal with the attitudes taken by and articles written by former friends, sports journalists such as Paul Oberjuerge
(http://lang.sbsun.com/blogs/inthiscorner/2007/07/christine-daniels-makes-galaxy.html) are probably what doomed him.
Below is part of what Paul Oberjuerge wrote in 07.
“I hate to be judgmental about these things, but Christine is not an attractive woman. Which probably isn’t a surprise when you’re 50 and have spent your in-the-world life as a fairly drab guy. Who has a fairly prominent Adam’s apple (not all of us do) … Who also isn’t exactly petite. Maybe 6-1, 200?
So … she looks like a guy in a dress, pretty much. Except anyone paying any attention isn’t going to be fooled — as some people are by veteran transvestites.
Another guy in the business was sitting near me when “Chris” wobbled by on her mid-size heels, and she demurely said hello to this other guy, who is about the same age as the two of us. And this guy said, “Hey, Mike … uh, Christine.” He was embarrassed because he wanted to get it right, but he didn’t. Christine said something like, “Some habits are hard to break.” She was kind about it.
The thing is, and maybe this is cruel, but there were women in that room who were born women in body as well as soul. And the difference between them and Christine was, in my mind, fairly stark.
It seemed almost as we’re all going along with someone’s dress-up role playing ”
Paul now lives in Abu Dhabi and writes for the government owned daily newspaper.
Unfortunately the standard of what counts as “support” for transgendered folks is pretty low, Paul. His colleagues didn’t ostracize him or try to get him fired (that I am aware). Sad to say, that represents a huge amount of progress.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Mike-Penner-Suicide-The-Tragedy-of-Mike-Penner
The sad thing is Mike Penner didn’t have to die! The Enemy lied to him long enough to capture his soul.
I knew Mike well. He was a wonderful person. He was an exceedingly talented writer, but a far, far better person. What he was going through, we can only imagine. A lot of us are kicking ourselves today, wondering if we could have made a difference had we made it more clear how much we loved him and supported him no matter what. My life is richer for having known him. And this hurts so bad. I love you, Mike.
This is a sad story. Mike was probably a very talented writer. I feel sad that people are misled to believe that if they pursue satisfying their emotions that they will somehow be happy and fulfilled. That is not true, and history prove it over and over again. Let this serve as a lesson to everyone, “life has a purpose, don’t seek your own purposes!” Prayer are with the family…
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