To my watchers,

The Celebrity Death Poll is something that I started doing just a little over 3yrs ago now, and today it's bigger than I ever expected it to get. It began when I got sick of seeing people like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears all over television and magazines. I decided I'd put a poll up here on DA and let you guys and gals vote on who you'd like to see killed on paper. That way, I'd know it was a decision made by several people instead of just me. I definitely don't want ANY of these celebrities to actually die, which is why almost every single "execution" is not only humorous, they're all but impossible to actually happen (another reason I incorporate elaborate and ridiculous stories into all of them). Regardless, the Celebrity Death Poll has quickly became both a blessing and a curse for me.

The Good:
Cut to June 2009, and I've done almost 30 celebs. The Celebrity Death Poll is featured in every issue of Girls & Corpses Magazine, it's the most popular section of my website, trading cards are in the works, a comic version is in production, and I sell out of many individual celeb prints at horror conventions. I even got commissioned by two big names in the UFC because they liked my Carlos Mencia image. Now for the dark side of the yin-yang.

The Bad:
Today would be a prime reason why these can be bad. Let's face it, nobody expected Michael Jackson to die at 50, but he has. I'm still a fan of MJ with no less than 15 tracks of his in my current playlist, and I'm honestly sad to see him go. This almost happened to me once before with Anna Nicole Smith. She was in 2nd place of the Death Poll that ended 1 week before she actually passed away. When I first heard that she had died, I thought "Wow, good thing I didn't just post an image of her dying, could you imagine the negative feedback?" Next (speaking of which), you may wonder why I'm placing "fan-mail" in the bad segment of this entry, here's your answer. I've received loads of death threats and profanity-laced verbal lashings over numerous celebrity images. I understand this is bound to happen, and (for the most part) they can be kinda funny. However, sometimes they're really bad.

In light of today's news, I've edited the "Michael Jackson is Dead" image comments, but I'm not taking it down. Like I said before, I don't actually want anybody dead...but eventually, everybody dies in one way or another. I only ask that you respect my decision and hope you'll continue to support me in the future. May both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett rest in piece tonight, they will be missed.

-Dick Starr


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