All the darkness in the world can’t put out the light from one small candle. Light a candle in memory of Pete Duel.
Gone, but never forgotten. We miss you, Pete.
I designed the Pete Duel Memorial Site (PDMS) in 2004 to celebrate the life and talent of this remarkable man. PDMS contains more than 500 pictures of Pete Duel (many of them from original sources), and roughly 5,000 video captures, along with more than 100 video clips and performances—and with more to be uploaded and presented.
We have recently learned that Pete was prescribed the drug Dilantin for his epilepsy, a drug with the side effects of depression and suicide. Epileptics have 5 times the risk of suicide. We don’t know what role his epilepsy and its treatment played in his death, except that he told his brother the Monday before he died that he was terrified, though he knew not from what. Perhaps it was an internal, prescription drug-influenced drive he literally had no power over, one that set him up for drinking and ultimately his death. To learn more, read here about Dilantin and here about the risk of suicide among epileptics.
Pete Duel was someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s uncle, someone’s friend, someone’s colleague, someone’s cousin, someone’s lover, and someone’s hero. He is still admired by fans and colleagues around the world. What has come out from everything ever said or written about him is that he was a man with heart and soul. Despite his absence, his powerful presence is still with us.
I hope you find the Pete Duel Memorial Site a dignified expression of the love and respect Pete Duel deserved and hopefully had a glimpse of sensing before he left. In the meantime, nearly 50 years later, Pete is still winning and breaking hearts around the world.
He is as forever loved as he is forever missed.
-Laura, the Pete Duel Memorial Site Creator
