The Wire writer David Mills dead at 48

March 31, 2010 3:35 PM

Emmy winning The Wire writer David Mills has died.

Mills, 48, died in New Orleans of an apparent brain aneurysm. He is co-executive producer with David Simon, creator of The Wire, of a new show about the aftermath of Katrina called Treme.

posted by axiom (108 comments total)

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posted by ColdChef at 3:37 PM on March 31, 2010

Forgot to add, Undercover Black Man is Mills' blog.
posted by axiom at 3:38 PM on March 31, 2010

What exquisite timing. This is a real shame.

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posted by nevercalm at 3:38 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by flippant at 3:38 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:39 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:41 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by jaffacakerhubarb at 3:42 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by Gonnas at 3:42 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by threetoed at 3:42 PM on March 31, 2010

Fuck.
posted by anotherpanacea at 3:43 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by reductiondesign at 3:44 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by burnmp3s at 3:45 PM on March 31, 2010

. must watch boxed set.
posted by Artw at 3:46 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by wierdo at 3:48 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:49 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by Smart Dalek at 3:50 PM on March 31, 2010

I was just trying to build this post, and there are a couple of moving obits from David Mills' friends television critic Alan Sepinwall and writer David Simon. A round-up of online commentary appears on Watching Treme.
posted by gladly at 3:51 PM on March 31, 2010 [5 favorites]

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posted by sallybrown at 3:52 PM on March 31, 2010

I was so sad when I read about this earlier today.

Treme will premier on April 11.

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posted by rtha at 3:53 PM on March 31, 2010

I just saw him and the Tremé writers speak at the Tennessee Williams Festival in NOLA on Sunday. They razzed him when he called a bar they were shooting at "Louisa's By The Track," when it's "Liuzza's By The Track." They all have a great camaraderie--I'm sure this is devastating personally and for their writers' room.
posted by liketitanic at 3:57 PM on March 31, 2010

Holy shit. Brain aneuryisms are freaking scary.

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posted by l33tpolicywonk at 3:59 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

Damnit

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posted by alteredcarbon at 4:06 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by HumanComplex at 4:07 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by mccarty.tim at 4:08 PM on March 31, 2010

–30–
posted by rigby51 at 4:12 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

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Shit. Mills wrote 'Soft Eyes' the second episode of the fourth series of The Wire.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:12 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by doctor_negative at 4:17 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by lapolla at 4:17 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by djeo at 4:20 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by bessel functions seem unnecessarily complicated at 4:21 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by palmcorder_yajna at 4:22 PM on March 31, 2010

Oh. Shit.
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posted by Pecinpah at 4:26 PM on March 31, 2010

Sheee-it.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 4:27 PM on March 31, 2010

Tragedy - I just got into the Wire and would love to see move from David M. And kinda scary too - suddenly drops from an aneurysm?
posted by Tehhund at 4:27 PM on March 31, 2010

48, ugh. Far too young. It takes so damn long to become a really good writer and be recognized as such. He should have had more time.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:32 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 4:33 PM on March 31, 2010

Sadness.
posted by Maude_the_destroyer at 4:34 PM on March 31, 2010

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Thank you for your writing, especially the Homicide episode "Bop Gun."
posted by meadowlark lime at 4:37 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

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posted by dobie at 4:37 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by Joey Michaels at 4:37 PM on March 31, 2010

God fucking dammit. Stop taking all the good ones, death.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:45 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

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posted by felix betachat at 4:45 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by ambulance blues at 5:04 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by litleozy at 5:08 PM on March 31, 2010

no
posted by fook at 5:11 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by Dumsnill at 5:12 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by el_lupino at 5:13 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by bz at 5:14 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by jpziller at 5:24 PM on March 31, 2010

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0.0
posted by mwhybark at 5:26 PM on March 31, 2010

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Damn. I was just watching some episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street last night and commenting on how well it's aged. Unlike a lot of other shows from the 1990s, it doesn't feel dated at all and is an outstanding example of what TV can be.

Sad to hear Mr. Mills has died so young. He was very talented.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:27 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

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posted by jonnyploy at 5:32 PM on March 31, 2010

We all have soft eyes today.

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posted by bwg at 5:45 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by brundlefly at 5:48 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by recursion at 5:54 PM on March 31, 2010

The king stay the king.
posted by Sam Ryan at 5:55 PM on March 31, 2010

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I don't know what to say. I was a daily reader of and fairly regular commenter on his blog. OMFG.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:57 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by hydropsyche at 5:59 PM on March 31, 2010

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This is no 40 degree day.
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posted by Spatch at 6:32 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by martin10bones at 6:33 PM on March 31, 2010

A short piece up at GQ
posted by gwint at 6:37 PM on March 31, 2010

Oh no!

I started reading Undercover Black Man shortly after he started it, and loved it so much. I even posted it here a while ago.

And I kept reading and periodically commented and he was always very sweet about writing back to little old me. He even used to link to my old blog when I was writing it. This was notable because we often clashed on some of what I thought to be his weirder political views. Despite disagreement, I always got a sense of him as having a moral compass that guided his actions. And I really appreciated that he refused to buy into left or right wing ideology, and instead seemed committed to going his own way. He just seemed so fucking smart and ornery and good. I'm really, really sad to hear that he's gone.

If you haven't read his blog, I recommend clicking on some of the "greatest hits" posts he has (had, I guess) linked on the sidebar. Great stuff on history, music and race. Such a loss for all of us.
posted by serazin at 7:07 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

The episodes of NYPD Blue that he wrote were like nothing else on television at the time. Very sad.
posted by texorama at 7:36 PM on March 31, 2010

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warning: second link contains talking lady
posted by Football Bat at 7:40 PM on March 31, 2010

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So sorry to hear this.
posted by garnetgirl at 8:13 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by mkim at 8:23 PM on March 31, 2010

:(
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posted by sa3z at 10:04 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by neuron at 10:22 PM on March 31, 2010

"Among the things that are looked upon as more especially singular, though of frequent occurence, is sudden death, a thing that, in fact, is the greatest happiness in life..." - Pliny the Elder (circa AD 77)
posted by neuron at 10:26 PM on March 31, 2010

That's too damn young to die.

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posted by quadog at 10:37 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by saslett at 10:43 PM on March 31, 2010

Starting on The Wire from today.

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posted by the cydonian at 11:20 PM on March 31, 2010

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posted by communicator at 4:33 AM on April 1, 2010

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posted by keijo at 5:10 AM on April 1, 2010

Just worked my way through The Wire weeks ago.

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posted by srw12 at 5:40 AM on April 1, 2010

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posted by omnidrew at 6:54 AM on April 1, 2010

This bummed me out so much - I have been following his blog since I first discovered him from your post, serazin. He brought a lot of new music into my life. His blog archives are so well worth exploring, as is his stash of music on Vox. Such a shame he died so young.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:21 AM on April 1, 2010

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posted by tumples at 2:18 PM on April 2, 2010

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Man.
posted by unwordy at 10:09 AM on April 5, 2010

A little closure from David Mills' cousin.
posted by serazin at 4:36 PM on April 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sorry, it's his nephew not his cousin.
posted by serazin at 5:05 PM on April 6, 2010

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posted by e40 at 6:22 PM on April 12, 2010