R.I.P. John Forté

Recording artist John Forté has died age 50...

From Martha Vineyard Times

John Forté, a Grammy-nominated recording artist and loving father of two young children, died suddenly in his home in Chilmark on Monday. He was 50 years old.

His death was confirmed by Chilmark Police, and a precise cause of death has not yet been officially determined. Forté was beloved among the community of musicians on the Island, and anyone who came across his path remembers him as generous, empathetic, and brilliant.

Forté, who first visited Martha’s Vineyard in 1998 at the invitation of fellow musician Ben Taylor, fell in love with the Island and its sense of community. He moved here approximately 10 years ago and met Lara Fuller, a freelance photographer who would become his wife and the mother of their children, Wren, 10, and Hale, 7.

Chilmark Police Chief Sean Slavin said a neighbor discovered Forté alone on the kitchen floor Monday and called 911 at 2:25 pm. Slavin said his officers Liz Rogers and Bret Stearns were the first to arrive at Forté’s home on Hewing Field in Chilmark at 2:32 pm and reported him not responsive and not breathing. Slavin said he arrived at 2:38 pm.

Slavin said that Forté was pronounced dead at the scene, adding, “There is no foul play suspected.” Chapman’s Funeral Home took Forté’s body at approximately 4 pm.

Pending a report by the medical examiner’s office, the case is expected to fall to the Massachusetts State Police Detectives Unit attached to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, as is standard operating procedure in what are known in police jargon as “unattended deaths.” Slavin, who knew Forté socially for many years and is a longtime friend with the Fuller family, said, “It is such a small community, this death hits close to home. It’s the upside and the downside to living on such a small Island.”

The cause of death has not yet been determined, Slavin said, but family friends confirm that Forté suffered a serious health setback one year ago when he was hospitalized after a seizure. Since then, Forte, who would have been 51 on Jan. 30, had been taking medication to control the threat of a grand mal seizure.