Four months after she went missing, the body of Billie Jean James, 67, was found under piles of floor-to-ceiling clutter in her Las Vegas home. The woman was reportedly a hoarder. Police had already searched the home several times. Hoarding has been a problem for a long, long time.

In fact, the bride and I went to see a show at the renovated Stoneham Theater called “The Dazzle” during its 2003-2004 season. It was a play based on the story about the Collyer Brothers who, like this woman, died in her home surrounded [or more appropriately] buried by their hoarded collection. The Stoneham Theater was in the early stages of its transition from the movie theater to a live performance theater. My wife and joined as season ticket holders the first year the theater reopened.

We were hoping that the quality of the plays and the local talent would provide comparable enjoyment in the arts that we received as season ticket holders at the Wang and the Shubert. We were not disappointed. In fact, I found the fact that a small theater forced to do more with less actually work harder to put together an enjoyable play or musical. Each event we attended was better than the last and the theater has grown immensely since those days.

The play “The Dazzle” was the result of a need for innovative thinking and working in a small venue with a limited cast. It required above average writing, directing and believable acting. “The Dazzle” produced.

Since attending that play, I’ve read several stories about hoarders perishing in traps of their own making or being driven from their homes due to the associated health risks brought about by hoarding and poor environmental hygiene in the home.

The Learning Channel has a program entitled “Hoarding: Buried Alive” that documents the problems associated with hoarding as well the causes, consequences and hazards. It is further proof that, while all men are created equal, no amount of government intervention or regulation will ever actually make all men equal. This problem is beyond the realm of even the most dedicated and innovative “Handicapper General”.

As if “Hoarding: Buried Alive” is not enough, A&E has its own version of this terrible affliction on a show simply called “Hoarders” A&E describes the show as 60-minutes episode of Hoarders is a fascinating look inside the lives of two different people whose inability to part with their belongings is so out of control that they are on the verge of a personal crisis.

Sometimes life imitates art, but the play “The Dazzle” was one of those times where art portrayed actual life and only a few people were on hand to witness the warning.