Hero-worship was fatal to him (7)

I believe the answer is:

leander

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'hero-worship was fatal to him' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'to him' is the wordplay.
'to' becomes 'lean' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'him' becomes 'Der'.
'lean'+'der'='LEANDER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for leander that I've seen before include "youth who drowned" , "Hellespont swimmer" , "Hero's hero" , "Tragic Greek" , "Hero's lover; rowing club" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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