The news of Anne Kirkbride's death has come as a shock - far sharper than I would have imagined for an actress in a soap that I, like many others, grew up with, but haven't watched properly for a good few years now.
So why has the loss of someone I never knew cut so deeply?
Well, immediately it's the contrast between the enduring, public profile Anne has had as Deirdre Barlow for 43 years, and the private, unassuming manner in which she took her departure.
The only glimpse fans had had was that this Corrie veteran was simply taking a break from the role she had played for more than four decades.
Her working life was all there for public consumption and enjoyment, and yet she slipped away completely privately, with barely a hint of speculation into her health. In an era where a photo of someone caught off-guard, let alone surprisingly sick, could raise preposterous sums, it is a tribute to her loved ones and colleagues that her privacy was protected to such a degree.
This quiet, private departure is a sharp contrast to how strong her presence - with her big face, big laugh, big glasses - has been, even in the corner of the living room - for such a long time.
It's hard to rationalise now but, back in the era of three or four channels, pre-EastEnders, Hollyoaks and when Emmerdale was still a farm, Coronation Street ruled. Coming into our homes week in, week out, we knew more about its stars than our own family members.
And if the likes of Ena Sharples, Hilda Ogden and Elsie Tanner vied for Queen of the Cobbles, it was Deirdre Hunt, then Langton, finally Barlow, who was indisputably their Princess.
The only rival for that position from the same era was possibly Helen Worth, but she had her hands full with errant hubby Brian Tilsley - for years, Gail was a curiously passive spectator to the goings-on around her.
Deirdre, on the other hand, was right at the centre of the action back then, never more so than when she was the centre of a love triangle between earnest but boring Ken Barlow, and the Street's bad boy factory owner Mike Baldwin.
From the day Deirdre started her affair behind Ken's back, viewers were interested. And then when he found out about it, they were agog.
Not since the days of Princess Margaret's Peter Townsend will-she-won't-she debacle had a nation waited so keenly on a woman's romantic deliberations. Newspaper columns, discussions, votes were dedicated towards Deidre's decision, until she plumped for Ken, and a national crisis was averted. (Man Utd famously put the score Ken 1 Mike 0 on their scoreboard to cheers in the stadium.)
What could be more romantic? Well, Ken's proposal that they get married on 27 July 1981, two days before Charles wed Diana. I can still remember Deirdre bursting out, "But that's two days before... " and Ken telling her, "No, theirs is two days after ours." There was only one royal wedding in Weatherfield.
There were more Deirdre dramas to follow - another affair, a divorce, being swept off her feet by exotic toyboy Samir, being jailed for fraud at the hands of her conman lover, before a whole new era of tribulations at the hands of her daughter Tracy.
Through it all, Anne Kirkbride remained one of the Street's most robust pillars - the youngest of that generation of stars who gave their whole working life to a TV soap, came into people's homes three times a week, entertained them and, in return, earned a place in our collective affection denied much bigger screen stars.
Anne is not alone in gaining this kind of status, but she is unique in her enduring smile, vibrancy on and off screen, and the fact that, for a young school girl in NHS glasses, she made it acceptable to wear ridiculously-sized spectacles.
For fans of Corrie past and present, it's a very sad day, and for everyone else, a simple reminder that nothing and nobody lasts forever.
Anne Kirkbride Through The Years
Anne Kirkbride(01 of15)
Open Image ModalFile photo dated 13/06/83 of Coronation Street actress Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow, has died after a short illness, her husband David Beckett said tonight. (credit:PA/PA Wire)
Television - ITV Series - Coronation Street - Manchester(02 of15)
Open Image ModalCoronation Street stars during a Christmas Party sequence at the Rovers Return. Left to right, Julie Goodyear as Bet Lynch; Doris Speed as Annie Walker; Jack Howarth as Albert Tatlock; Betty Driver as Betty Turpin (behind); Barbara Knox as Rita Littlewood; Anne Kirkbride as Deidre Hunt (behind), as Jean Alexander as Hilda Ogden; unidentified; Stephen Hancock as Ernest Bishop; as Geoffrey Hughes as Eddie Yeats (at the back); Violet Carson as Ena Sharples; Eileen Derbyshire as Emily Bishop; Margo Bryant as Minnie Caldwell; unidentified; Thelma Barlow as Mavis Riley; Bernard Youens as Stan Ogden; Neville Buswell as Ray Langdon; unidentified. (credit:PA/PA Archive)
Television - Queen visit to Coronation Street - Granada Studios(03 of15)
Open Image ModalQueen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit the newly built location of Granada Television's "Coronation Street" in Manchester. Some of the cast from left to right: Jack Howarth, William Roache, Anne Kirkbride, Eileen Derbyshire and Thelma Barlow (credit:PA/PA Archive)
Television - Granada TV - Coronation Street 25th Anniversary - Dorchester Hotel(04 of15)
Open Image ModalMembers of the cast of ITV's soap opera Coronation Street, crowded around a cake replica of the street at the celebration to mark its 25th anniversary at the Dorchester Hotel. Front row, left to right, Julie Goodyear, Eileen Derbyshire, series creater Tony Warren, William Roache, Jean Alexander and Betty Driver. Back row, left to right, Nigel Pivaro, Johnny Briggs, Michael Le Vell, Bill Tarmey, Thelma Barlow, Anne Kirkbride, Bryan Mosley, Lynn Perry, Kevin Kennedy, Bill Waddington, Helen Worth and Liz Dawn. (credit:PA/PA Archive)
kirkbride anne 02-(05 of15)
Open Image ModalAnne Kirkbride, attends the Coronation Street, Christmas Party, held at the Lowry hotel in Manchester. (credit:Eamon Clarke /EMPICS Entertainment)
Anne Kirkbride death(06 of15)
Open Image ModalFile photo dated 23/05/83 of Coronation Street actors William Roache (left), who played Ken Barlow and Johnny Briggs who played Mike Baldwin with Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow, as she has died after a short illness, her husband David Beckett said. (credit:PA/PA Wire)
Actors Anne Kirkbride And Bill Roache Come Face To Face With Ken And Deidre(07 of15)
Open Image ModalBLACKPOOL, ENGLAND - JULY 25: Coronation Street actress Anne Kilbride comes face to face with a wax work model of her street character Deirdre Barlow on July 25, 2011 in Blackpool, England. Two wax work figures of Coronation Street's Deirdre and Ken Barlow are the latest celebrity fascimiles to be unveiled at Madame Tussauds Blackpool (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Christopher Furlong via Getty Images)
Actors Anne Kirkbride And Bill Roache Come Face To Face With Ken And Deidre(08 of15)
Open Image ModalBLACKPOOL, ENGLAND - JULY 25: Coronation Street actress Anne Kilbride comes face to face with a wax work model of her street character husband Ken Barlow on July 25, 2011 in Blackpool, England. Two wax work figures of Coronation Street's Deirdre and Ken Barlow are the latest celebrity fascimiles to be unveiled at Madame Tussauds Blackpool (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Christopher Furlong via Getty Images)
Actors Anne Kirkbride And Bill Roache Come Face To Face With Ken And Deidre(09 of15)
Open Image ModalBLACKPOOL, ENGLAND - JULY 25: Coronation Street actress Anne Kilbride comes face to face with a wax work model of her street character Deirdre Barlow on July 25, 2011 in Blackpool, England. Two wax work figures of Coronation Street's Deirdre and Ken Barlow are the latest celebrity fascimiles to be unveiled at Madame Tussauds Blackpool (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) (credit:Christopher Furlong via Getty Images)
The Duchess Of Cornwall - Coronation Street Visit(10 of15)
Open Image ModalMANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall (2L) meets actors Anne Kirkbride, who plays the role of Deirdre Barlow (C) and Ryan Thomas, who plays the role of Jason Grimshaw (R) during a tour to the Rovers Return Pub on the set of British television soap opera 'Coronation Street' on February 4, 2010 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Andrew Yates-WPA Pool/Getty Images) (credit:WPA Pool via Getty Images)
Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall (2nd L)(11 of15)
Open Image ModalCamilla, The Duchess of Cornwall (2nd L) meets actors Beverly Callard, who plays landlady Liz McDonald (L), Anne Kirkbride, who plays the role of Deirdre Barlow (2nd R) and Ryan Thomas, who plays the role of Jason Grimshaw (R) during a visit to the Rovers Return Pub on the set of British television soap opera 'Coronation Street', in Manchester, north-west England, on February 4, 2010. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES/WPA POOL (Photo credit should read ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:ANDREW YATES via Getty Images)
Central Station Paint Coronation Street-Part 1 - Manchester(12 of15)
Open Image ModalThe Richard Goodall Gallery in Manchester's northern quarter had it's opening night party for the exhibition "Central Station Paint Coronation Street-Part 1". Coronation Street's Anne Kirkbride. (credit:Eamonn and James Clarke/Eamonn and James Clarke)
Coronation Street Filming - Manchester(13 of15)
Open Image ModalAnne Kirkbride seen on the set of Coronation Street, Cheshire (credit:Eamonn and James Clarke/Eamonn and James Clarke)
Anne Kirkbride(14 of15)
Open Image ModalFile photo dated 29/01/14 of Coronation Street actress Anne Kirkbride, who played Deirdre Barlow, has died after a short illness, her husband David Beckett said tonight. (credit:Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Coronation Street filming - Manchester(15 of15)
Open Image ModalAnne Kirkbride who plays Deirdre Barlow in Coronation Street is seen filming the funeral scene of Blanche Hunt who was played by Maggie Jones who recently passed away in real life, Manchester (credit:Eamonn and James Clarke/Eamonn and James Clarke)