On July 13, 2024, fitness personality and beloved public figure Richard Simmons died at the age of 76, and the impact he had on the world has become more obvious than ever in the days since. During his life, especially in more recent years, fans looked forward to reading Richard's carefully crafted social media posts, and now, there's one more to read as we say goodbye to someone who became so much more than a fitness guru over the course of his impressive career.
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His staff shared that Richard had one more post in the pipeline at the time of his death. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), a member of Richard's team shared that the star would "work ahead" on his social media posts, making sure they were perfect before he sent them off into the world.
That means that when he died on July 13, he already had his post for July 14 ready to go.
The post was to be a short one. "As you know, on the weekends, he would just share a photo with a caption. He always chose his photos and wrote his captions for the upcoming weekend by Friday," the tweet from Richard's staff continued. "So we have the post Richard planned to share with you last Sunday. We thought you’d want to see it."
The post featured Richard in an orange NASA space suit. According to his staff, this was the caption that was meant to go along with the picture: "Let me fly you to the moon so we can gaze among the stars. Love, Richard."
Seems fitting, even though he apparently didn't know at the time what the future held.
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Richard was laid to rest the week after he died. "Our beloved Dicky was laid to rest this morning surrounded by only family and closest friends," Richard's brother, Lenny, told People on Friday, July 19. "We pray for your continued love and support during this very difficult time."
His cause of death has yet to be determined. Richard was found dead at his home one day after his birthday. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has listed the case involving Richard's unexpected death as "deferred," though the case does remain open.
