The Year of the Rat Reading 22: "Comrade Rockstar"

Imagine going overseas, becoming a big star, wanting to go home, but the world has changed and you never do. That is what happened to Dean Reed. He had a few hits in the 1950's, made it big in Chile, become a communist, ended up in the Soviet Union and finally East Germany where he died a few years before the wall came down.
This book is really not about him, but about the search for him. The author doesn't really write a traditional biography, but more like a memoir of her journeys trying to discover his true identity. In the end she thinks he has killed himself, but his death is still a mystery.
But again it is a mystery that most have never heard of or are even too interested in solving. Dean Reed was in the end someone who was easy to throw away, because he left only a tiny mark on the earth.
As someone who is leaving that type of mark I can feel for this man. His adventure in some ways is similar to mine. Hopefully I have a happier ending.