The son of the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, Nicholas Hughes, has commited suicide. Sylvia Plath’s son hanged himself almost a half a century after his mother killed herself. Read more on Nicholas Hughes’ suicide below.

Battling depression for years, Nicholas Hughes was found hanged at his home in Fairbanks, Alaska, by his girlfriend last Monday. Nicholas’ death comes 46 years after Sylvia Plath put her head in an oven and turned on the gas as her children slept in the room next door.

Plath had lined the door between the rooms with wet towels to prevent the gas seeping in and harming Nicholas, then aged one, and his sister Frieda, who was just a year older.

Nicholas Hughes was a very private person and had a successful career as an eminent professor of fisheries and ocean sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His life in Alaska, much of it spent at sea documenting the ecology of salmon or else hunting or gardening, was probably as far as a man could get from a London literary world that has obsessed and combed over every detail of Plath and Hughes’s relationship since her suicide.

Ted Hughes knew how badly Sylvia Plath’s suicide had hurt the children. In 1998, shortly before his own death from cancer, he wrote a letter to Nicholas in which he concluded: “But I tell you all this, with a hope that it will let you understand a lot of things.Don’t laugh it off. In 1963 you were hit even harder than me. But you will have to deal with it, just as I have had to. And as Frieda has had to.”

Nicholas was unmarried and had no children. He did have a long-time girlfriend but the relationship had ended and he had started dating again.His new girlfriend is the one that found his body.

His sister Frieda Hughes, who is a writer and poet, was heading to Alaska with Ted Hughes’s 80-year-old sister Olwyn. Frieda said in a statement: “It is with profound sorrow that I must announce the death of my brother, Nicholas Hughes, who died by his own hand on Monday 16 March 2009 at his home in Alaska. He had been battling depression for some time.

“He was an evolutionary ecologist who specialised in the study of stream fish and travelled thousands of miles across Alaska on research trips.

“His lifelong fascination with fish and fishing was a strong and shared bond with our father (many of whose poems were about the natural world). He was a loving brother, a loyal friend to those who knew him and, despite the vagaries that life threw at him, he maintained an almost childlike innocence and enthusiasm for the next project or plan.”

Nicholas was shielded from his mother’s suicide by his father who told his children she had killed herself only when they were in their teens.

By that time Ted Hughes had been hounded by feminists who accused him of responsibility for Plath’s suicide through his own infidelity. Six years after Plath killed herself, his mistress Assia Wevill gassed herself and her daughter in an apparent copycat suicide.

Nicholas had shunned the limelight for many years so it is ironic that in death he is making headlines again. Even at birth, he was being written about by his mother. In her 1962 journals, she wrote on the morning following her son’s birth: “I felt very proud of Nicholas, and fond. It had taken a night to be sure I liked him -his head shaped up beautifully – the skull plates had overlapped to get him through the boney door, and filled out, a handsome male head with a black brain-shelf. Dark, black-blue eyes, a furze of hair like a crew cut.”

What a tragedy! Our condolences to his family and friends.

Did you miss seeing Matt Lauer on the Today show this morning?

Matt had to take the day off from work today after he had a minor bike accident over the weekend. The morning show host was out for a bicycle ride when a deer jumped into his path. He flipped over the bike’s handlebars and landed on his shoulder.

Meredith Vieira joked on the air this morning that Matt thinks the deer was hired by the competition.

"Matt’s banged up with a displaced shoulder, it popped out," she said. "So hopefully he’ll be on the mend soon."

Get well, Matt!

Actor Bruce Willis married his girlfriend model/actress Emma Heming on Saturday with ex-wife Demi Moore and husband Ashton Kutcher in attendance. Read more on Bruce Willis’ wedding below.

Bruce Willis tied the knot with his girlfriend Emma Heming on Saturday at the actor’s home in Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos.

Bruce Willis’ ex-wife Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher were guests at the wedding along with Moore and Willis’s daughters, Rumer Willis, 20, Scout, 17, and Tallullah Belle, 15.

Bruce’s wedding was held very close to his birthday as he just turned 54 on Thursday. Emma Heming is 32.

The couple met through friends and have been together for over a year. They will have a civil ceremony once they return to California.

Katie Holmes and her fashionable daughter Suri Cruise helped bail Victoria Beckham out of a sticky family situation when her mother-in-law Sandra cut her babysitting stint short in Los Angeles.
When David Beckham‘s mother decided to head back to London while Victoria is still househunting in Milan, it was Katie who stepped up to take care of Romeo and Cruz Beckham. Along with the help of the Beckhams nanny, of course. According to a source who told  "Sandra and Victoria had a row."
As for the kiddos, they headed to The Children’s Arts Studio in Santa Monica for a fun day out. Suri had suggested they all go to see Watchmen, but thought better of it when she realized the Beckham boys might not be able to sit still that long.

We’ve been waiting for Amy Winehouse to release some new music for quite sometime now so when we heard her record label had sent her back to the drawing board after hearing her latest material we must admit our hearts sunk a little.

Apparently the tracks she recently recorded contain some very “dark lyrics” and although “in the past, she’s written frequently about broken hearts and boyfriends” a source explains that, “this time round she’s delving into harrowing terrain” and it’s simply not “hitting the mark.”

“She seems to have ditched her trademark vintage soul sound and is now heavily influenced by reggae. Her bosses don’t think it’s a wise move to change her style so sharply and have told her that.”

“If she puts out a record that is in any way half-baked, that could severely damage her long-term prospects, so everyone’s focus at the minute is getting it right, even if that means telling Amy some things she probably won’t want to hear.”

Scary news just in: Paris Hilton is ready to have a baby!! The 28-year-old socialite thinks her biological clock is ticking so she’s given up drinking and partying as she puts her baby plan into action.

Over the weekend we caught up with the heiress, who was sporting a fancy new do, as she filmed her ‘New BFF’ show in Hollywood and in case you didn’t know Paris is currently dating baseball player Doug Reinhardt, well we say ‘currently dating’ but after hearing she’s on a baby mission we wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly goes A.W.OL. would you?!

   

Maybe what happened in the Caribbean this weekend got Ashton Kutcher thinking about his own marriage.

The What Happens in Vegas star, who attended Bruce Willis’ wedding Saturday in the Turks and Caicos Islands with wife Demi Moore, has taken to his Twitter page to give out some sage relationship advice. Among his words of wisdom:

. "For me it’s about relearning that supporting my wife isn’t about providing $ and Home, it’s about supporting her desires, needs and emotions."

. "Greatest lesson in my marriage. Don’t try to solve her problems, just listen, love and be supportive. This is the opposite of male nature."

. "2nd greatest lesson. When she says time for bed.hop to, good things await."

Then, perhaps in an effort to emphasize the "good things await" part, Ashton later posts a pic of one of Demi’s many assets, with the request, "Shhh. Don’t tell wifey."

Michael Kelso would be so proud.

Natasha Bedingfield has a pocketful of sunshine!

The singer wed fiance Matt Robinson on Saturday at the Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu., her rep told Usmagazine.com. 

"Our wedding day was everything we’d hope it would be," Natasha gushed. "It was simple, beautiful and natural. Free from trappings or formalities, it was more about expressing our love for one another in front of those we hold dearest to us than anything else."

The "Unwritten" artist wore a cream silk Vera Wang dress, while her groom was decked out in Armani.

"We are now very much looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together," beamed the bride. "Love is hard to find, so when you do find it, hang on to it!"

Amen, sister!

Looks like low-key couple Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart have been keeping a secret.

According to People.com, a source close to the twosome has revealed that the lovebirds have been engaged for over a month now. The insider said that the Indiana Jones star surprised Ally McBeal with a rock on Valentine’s Day, while they were on a family vacation with their son Liam.

Well, it’s about time! Calista and Harrison have been solid for over seven years!

No wedding date has been set as of yet. Congrats!

Hilary Duff is set for guest stint on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit!

In a storyline that mirrors the death and disappearance of Florida toddler Caylee Anthony, the former Lizzie McGuire star will play a young mother whose daughter is missing while small screen vet Gail O’Grady (Desperate Housewives, American Dreams) will step in as Hil’s mom, a detemined grandma who fears something sinister has befallen the little girl.

Filming starts this week, the TV Fanatic reports.