Cosmo Landesman

Cosmo Landesman: ‘My son took his own life at 29. I couldn’t save him’

It was 2015 when Cosmo Landesman and Julie Burchill’s son, Jack, died. Landesman hid his grief and the guilt he felt for years — feelings he now reveals in a powerful new memoir

Saturday October 08 2022, 12.01am, The Times

‘Does Jack need help?” Cosmo Landesman types into his phone. He’s replying to a Facebook message from a friend of his son. The friend wants to speak “as soon as possible”, but Landesman is sitting in his cabin aboard a 19-deck cruise ship somewhere between Barcelona and Naples with no reception. To place a call he has to make his way down labyrinthine corridors, up stairs, past Splash Academy and Ask an Acupuncturist. The concierge is on Deck 16. Landesman figures Jack, 29, has talked to this friend about killing himself. The friend is freaked out and being responsible by telling Jack’s parents. The thing is, Jack talks about suicide a lot. Has done for years as he fought drug and mental health issues. Anyway, Landesman spoke to Jack a few days ago. He was fine – more stable than he’d been in a while, fixing up work window cleaning.

A journalist, Landesman is on assignment – a piece on singles travel. It ties in with the dating column he has alongside Dolly Alderton’s in The Sunday TimesStyle. This great big floating pleasure palace might look like a chunk of Brighton seafront has broken off and floated out to sea with its white stacked floors and touches of neon, but he’s determined to have fun. He’s circled activities in the brochure: Social Mixer & Raffle party; Solo Travellers’ Gathering (“Alone? Not for long! Studio Lounge Deck 11”). There’s Howl at the Moon, a band: 8.30pm, Deck 6. If it all gets too much, he has a book: Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift.

 …read the full article The Times Magazine