I think the truly sad thing about dying is that you become an archetype and no longer a real human being. It makes me think of Dr Seuss and all those terrible racist cartoons he used to draw. You dont hear about that do you? It's because he's no longer Theodore Geisel, but rather just some myth we all remember.
I'm sure otherwise well meaning people are doing pretty much the same thing to Bill Campbell right now. It's not just his body that is dead, but pretty soon the entirety of his existence.
Every famous person is an archetype, even when they are alive. For example most people think about Linus as a genius who created Linux rather than the guy who use childish insults on mailing lists. They arent any less human, it's just that the first thing people try to forget about someone after they pass away is the bad things.
And is not as dramatic as you think, I found all the "racist pics" he drawn fairly easy on the internet. So I'm fairly certain anyone who actually wants to look up "the human behind the myth" will be able to do so.
And is actually very easy to prove we don't forget the human behind the myths, at least within our historical sources, for example is widely known that Issaac Newton puked on his first and only kiss and died virgin. You think this helps the myth? Certainly not, is just a glimpse into his personality.
I'm sure otherwise well meaning people are doing pretty much the same thing to Bill Campbell right now. It's not just his body that is dead, but pretty soon the entirety of his existence.