I think it all depends on what that person does, not who he/she IS. I know that Australia absolutley LOVES their olympic swimmers. They treat them as we do Michael Jordan, Jackie Chan, OJ Simpson, etc... (har har). It\'s the fact that Thorpe has passed all expectations and made the olympics at 18 in a sport that the Aussies love. He has inspired thousands of kids and has become a role-model for many people.
Now if the "celebrity" was someone like an all-about-image pop star (what they are) I wouldn\'t care as much unless I liked their music (what they do). It\'s hard to tell the difference.
If the person has such an effect on many people by doing what they do, then their death can affect our emotions. Their talent is gone, and no one else can ever do it like him/her. Lots of people can act, be a pimp on a music vid, and do dumb @ss moves in sync on stage, but I\'d rather mourn the loss of a hero, an inspiration and role-model.
Dedicating an entire thread though to just one man that might have died is kinda iffy though. I think most members would have no prob if it was just a post on one of the other WTC threads.