Matthew D'Emic is a New York state judge whose work in mental health has been widely acknowledged in his country. While outsiders pay tribute to his successes, D'Emic, 59, is very much aware of his losses. Symbolic of these is the suicide of a 24-year-old man whose funeral D'Emic attended and whose story he shared in an essay titled Requiem for Rene: a suicide lament, which he discusses with Sr Camille D'Arienzo in NCR Online.