Authors & Suicide?

TL;DR at the bottom.

I’m reading a lot of children’s literature right now, as we’re looking for books to help our oldest son learn a love of reading.

I just finished Big Red, by Jim Kjelgaard. I remember reading almost all his books when I was a child. Typical young boy + dog in the woods, coming of age type books.

And then I learned that Kjelgaard killed himself at age 48 after a long struggle with depression.

Does that influence whether a book (or series) is worthwhile? Does it influence when a particular author would be introduced to a child (especially if the book’s subject is a broad discussion of what it means to live as an honorable man)?

I think that’s the core of it, for me. Kjelgaard’s books focus on honorable men, and in that setting - suicide seems less than honorable, and already as it is, a temptation that is too close for too many of us.

I enjoyed re-reading Big Red, and it’s a good book for our son’s reading level. But I’m leery of our son developing an attachment to this author as I had - he was my favorite author, even hero, for a long time - and there definitely has been a time or two when I struggled with depression. I suppose most people have to a greater or lesser degree.

The same thing might be asked about Hemingway, which would broaden the discussion to authorial depression & suicide, or Jack London, who drank himself to death - and when / whether their works are viewed through the lens of their ultimate demise.

TL;DR - To what extent does authorial suicide influence the introduction or consumption of a book?