In 1984, at age 49, Richard Brautigan had recently moved to Bolinas, California, where he was living alone in a large, old house. He died of a self-inflicted .44 Magnum Gunshot wound to the head. The exact date of his death is unknown, and his decomposed body was found by Robert Yench, a private investigator, on October 25, 1984. The body was found on the living room floor, in front of a large window that looked out over the Pacific Ocean. It is speculated that Brautigan may have ended his life over a month earlier, on September 14, 1984, after talking to former girlfriend Marcia Clay on the telephone. Brautigan was survived by his parents, both ex-wives, and his daughter Ianthe. He has one grandchild named Elizabeth, who was born about two years after his death. He left a suicide note that simply read: «Messy, isn’t it?».

Brautigan once wrote, «All of us have a place in history. Mine is clouds».

Romeo and Juliet

 

If you will die for me,

I will die for you

and our graves will

be like two lovers washing

their clothes together

in a laundromat.

If you will bring the soap,

I will bring the bleach.

Real Estate

 

I have emotions

that are like newspapers that

read themselves.

I go for days at a time

trapped in the want ads.

I feel as if I am an ad

for the sale of a haunted house:

18 rooms

$37,000

I’m yours

ghosts and all.