The sportswriter who blogged his suicide

Doug Gross, CNN
Published 6:22 PM EDT, Fri August 23, 2013
Martin Manley included photos throughout the website he built to explain his decision to commit suicide. He wrote: "Not only (do I) look 60, I think 60. I act 60... I am 60 ... ! I'll never have to see myself at 70 or 80 -- and that's a good thing."
Scenes from a life cut short —
Martin Manley included photos throughout the website he built to explain his decision to commit suicide. He wrote: "Not only (do I) look 60, I think 60. I act 60... I am 60 ... ! I'll never have to see myself at 70 or 80 -- and that's a good thing."
Martin Manley
Martin Manley at age four. "As a child I grew up poor along with my mom, dad, brother and sister. We didn't have much and it would be disingenuous to say we at least had each other. I suppose that's technically true, but I'm not sure how much value there was in having each other -- since all that meant was that we shared the same roof."
Scenes from a life cut short —
Martin Manley at age four. "As a child I grew up poor along with my mom, dad, brother and sister. We didn't have much and it would be disingenuous to say we at least had each other. I suppose that's technically true, but I'm not sure how much value there was in having each other -- since all that meant was that we shared the same roof."
Martin Manley
Manley is consistently matter-of-fact about the details of his suicide plan. But it's not hard to feel chills at this photo he snapped of the exact spot -- under the tree -- where he would take his own life.
Scenes from a life cut short —
Manley is consistently matter-of-fact about the details of his suicide plan. But it's not hard to feel chills at this photo he snapped of the exact spot -- under the tree -- where he would take his own life.
Martin Manley
"One thing is for sure, Fedoras may have caught my eye as a fashion statement, but shoes certainly never did," Manley wrote. He collected hats, but bragged of wearing a pair of $12 Wal-mart shoes for 12 years.
Scenes from a life cut short —
"One thing is for sure, Fedoras may have caught my eye as a fashion statement, but shoes certainly never did," Manley wrote. He collected hats, but bragged of wearing a pair of $12 Wal-mart shoes for 12 years.
Martin Manley
"At first, I just owned a couple of Fedoras, but then I bought a couple more. And, then I guess I got infected by the female shopping gene because, despite being extremely cheap, I got up to about a dozen hats," he wrote on the site. "I finally stopped at 25 when I realized I wasn't going to be around in another 14 months. Besides, I had just about covered all the colors."
Scenes from a life cut short —
"At first, I just owned a couple of Fedoras, but then I bought a couple more. And, then I guess I got infected by the female shopping gene because, despite being extremely cheap, I got up to about a dozen hats," he wrote on the site. "I finally stopped at 25 when I realized I wasn't going to be around in another 14 months. Besides, I had just about covered all the colors."
Martin Manley
"Take a look at my billfold," Manley wrote. "I had this puppy attached to my butt for the last 23 years of my life! I super-glued it back together on multiple occasions. It became somewhat of a cold slap in the face when I realized that I had become my shoes... that I had become my billfold."
Scenes from a life cut short —
"Take a look at my billfold," Manley wrote. "I had this puppy attached to my butt for the last 23 years of my life! I super-glued it back together on multiple occasions. It became somewhat of a cold slap in the face when I realized that I had become my shoes... that I had become my billfold."
Martin Manley
"So, how can I justify committing suicide. Here's a hint... I can't. I'm a sinner. I will have sinned to the day I died ... . I took communion just before I died, taped this cross in my left hand and I asked God to forgive me. That's all I could do."
Scenes from a life cut short —
"So, how can I justify committing suicide. Here's a hint... I can't. I'm a sinner. I will have sinned to the day I died ... . I took communion just before I died, taped this cross in my left hand and I asked God to forgive me. That's all I could do."
Martin Manley
Scenes from a life cut short

Story highlights

Martin Manley was a sports reporter and statistician in Kansas City

Before his suicide this month, he spent over a year building a vast website

The site gives Manley's reasons for killing himself and recounts much of his life

Sister: He was "a square peg in a round hole"