I'm not sure that being an infamous widow, losing a 20 year old son, having wrangles through the courts regarding the paternity of your daughter and dying at the age of 39 actually qualifies you as a success.

If you define being famous as being successful then you're halfway to answering your own question. Why do ordinary mortals such as us put such a high importance on fame? It doesn't matter. I think these days for a lot of people, being famous is the only thing they have actually succeeded at and probably the only thing they are capable of doing with their lives (Jade Goodie in the UK is a case in point). Or is success measured by money in the bank? It's true that famous people do tend to have more money, but to measure success on that basis is surely just as shallow as wanting to be famous for the sake of it.

A.N.S. always struck me as strange in the extreme so for her to die in strange circumstances is not really a surprise either. I'm sad for those who'll miss her though.

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