There's nothing romantic about dying at 27

There's been a lot of articles about the 27 club and it's new member - Amy Winehouse. I'll not add to the tributes, others have said it a lot better than me, Russell Brand's article struck me as particularly good (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/24/russell-brand-amy-winehouse-woman).

But I do take issue with the tone of some comments that seem to immortalised Amy as much for dying at 27 as her talents.

1. There's nothing great about dying so young. At 27 you have 2/3rds of your life ahead of you. Or, perhaps more significantly, 6/7ths of your adult life.

2. My uncle died at 27. I'd rather he was still around and had (as the first undergraduate in the family) been able to advise me on my university choices and life.

3. Has anyone looked at the statistics? Is there an equally well populated 26 or 28 club.

Coincidence is often taken to have meaning. Only a proper analysis of the distribution curve can demonstrate any meaning here.

Finally, even if it were true, it's still not really of any value. They were young, they died, they shouldn't have. Idolising early death is not healthy.