Even a Hero: The Unlikely Suicide of Trey Pennington

Yesterday morning I was doing my usual Twitter business when I saw our own Cheryl Smith's tweet, "So sad to hear the news of @treypennington's suicide. Praying for his family and close friends today. So. Sad."

I clicked through to Trey's Twitter stream and thought there must be some mistake. This smiling social-media mogul's profile promised, "Be the Hero! Conquer marketing clutter with story. Be heard. Be shared. I'll help you discover, develop, and deliver your amazing story."

So positive sounding.

And indeed, reading The Brand Builder's Heartbroken post, this was no apparent bluff on Trey's part. Brand Builder Olivier Blanchard writes, "I could tell you about all of the Social Media Clubs [Trey] started all over the South East, about all of the lives and careers he touched all over the world, about the selfless work he did behind the scenes that no one knew about, that he never sought to take credit for."

With similar passion and disbelief about the events that unfolded on Sunday—when Trey shot himself in a church parking lot in Greenville, S.C.—Blanchard goes on, "[Trey] was the most caring and unselfish individual I have ever met. There was a pure, innocent quality about him that, once glimpsed, inspired you to be a better, kinder, gentler man."

Poking through Trey's tweets I saw nothing to contradict the innocence, the marketing promises, the aura of success, the generous nature. In a completely natural Twitter message, Trey said to one follower, "Thank you. Are you in the UK? I'll be there Thursday." And in another upbeat tweet he exclaimed, "Thanks Jackie. Things are great. Speaking schedule picks up big time this week through the end of the year. Yea!"

Lastly, I settled on Trey's eerie last tweet that no one could have suspected meant anything pernicious at all. He left this statement with the world: "Sure am thankful for online friends who are real friends offline, too. Love you."

Generosity. Attractiveness. Selflessness. Success. Innocence. Love. Suicide?

Yes.

I am reminded by this tragic incident that despair is no respecter of persons. Old, young, successful, loved or unloved, we each can feel it. Things can happen.

There is a temptation in moments like this to try to say something final, something wisely interpretive. I can't. For some reason, all I can think of is a poem by our Senior Editor Marcus Goodyear...

As the Deer

We owe it to each other
to share what white tail already know.
When the pressure changes, they run
together, hooves clacking across asphalt,
then silent on dewy lawns.

I am not trying to be obscure by offering a poem. I am just trying to say, on Sunday the pressure changed in the life of Trey and his family. Today, the pressure may be changing in your own life, driving you perhaps to isolation and despair. Please, let's run together across the asphalt. Let's not go alone.

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