I'll admit I haven't kept up on the whole Harry Potter thing -- I made it through the third book and have seen the first two movies, but that's as far as I've gotten -- so I have no idea who Marcus Belby is, really. Apparently, he shows up in book six, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. If you've got kids who are more into Harry than I am, then I have some bad news for you. Marcus Belby is dead.

Actually, the actor who played Belby in the movie version of the sixth book, eighteen-year-old Rob Knox, was caught up in a brawl at a London bar and stabbed. He was taken to a hospital but did not survive his wounds. According to his parents, "Rob was kind and thoughtful and would always help out others. He was respectful to others and adored by all his family and friends."

The fight broke out when a man entered the bar armed with two knives and began waving them about. Reports say that Knox and his brother Jamie were trying to protect each other when Rob was stabbed. The twenty-one-year-old suspect is being held on suspicion of murder. It is always a tragedy when a young man or woman dies; perhaps especially so when they have so much going for them and such a bright future ahead of them. My sympathies go out to his family and friends.