Rumours have been circulating around the Internet for the past day or so that voice actor Maddie Blaustein, most commonly known to Pokémon fans as the voice of Meowth for 8 seasons, had died. 4Kids posted a news article confirming the news reported by Serebii.net.

"It is with great sadness that we note the passing of our friend and colleague Maddie Blaustein. Maddie was a voice actress for hit shows such as Pokémon, Chaotic: M’arrillian Invasion, Dinosaur King, and Sonic X. She was a wonderful actress, friend and inspiration. Her talent, friendship and laughter will be missed by all.

In Loving Memory Of
Maddie Blaustein
1960-2008"

Source: http://www.4kids.tv/buzz/view/2005

I loved the voice of Meowth. One of the best dub voices for Pokemon.

I dunno if anyone recalls my little insults towards Maddie a few years back, but I feel really horrible for saying those mean things to her. It made her death alot more chilling for me, and I feel really upset.

At the same time though, I find it kind of jarring how alot of people who only knew her through her voice acting and a few forum posts are acting like they knew her in person. I think it\'s great to say how you liked her voice acting, but I find it insincere how people who don\'t know her are going \"she brought happiness to everyone around her!\" or \"she was a good friend\". It just seems to cheapen someones death when you dole out prepackaged condolences like that instead of saying how you really feel.

Why I had my fights with her, I still feel very sorry for her family and friends and wish that she didn\'t die so young, if only for the fact that the people you fight with are the ones you end up missing the most when they\'re gone...

That is truly awful news. I couldn\'t believe it when I checked my news feeds just then and saw this. She was my favourite dub voice actor (across all anime, not just Pokemon). I\'ll definitely miss her work.

But no matter how talented she was in her industry, anyone\'s death is a tragedy. I never knew her personally or even spoke to her on the forums, she was still a living being, so it does sadden me on a personal level. That\'s probably what other people meant when they made the comments Habunake mentioned. I haven\'t seen the comments myself so I can\'t say for sure, but death isn\'t something that\'s easy to know how to talk about; I\'m sure no one intended to \"cheapen\" the situation.

As I posted on the Serebii.net forums, I plan to include a dedication to Maddie in my webmanga. Not only was she a writer and artist for comics, but I really like a lot of the Pokemon characters she did the voices for... especially Meowth! It\'s true -- she was an inspiration!