Friend of the blog, and a close personal friend of mine before there was a blog, Andrew Wimsatt, was murdered on Labor Day. His death was the one I referenced in a post earlier this week.
I’m still on the road (Mike the Musicologist and I head home tomorrow) but that’s only part of the reason I haven’t been able to put anything up before now. The other part of the reason is that this is sad and awful and emotionally devastating. I haven’t really been able to put words to it. I’ve had people die on me – we all have – but I’ve never had someone close to me murdered.
Lawrence has put up a series of posts rounding up the knows, the known unknowns, and a lot of tributes from Andrew’s friends, which I will send you in the direction of for now while I try to wrap my mind around this:
My Friend Was Murdered On Labor Day
Updates On The Murder Of Andrew Wimsatt
Remembering Andrew Wimsatt: “The Coolest Dude Ever”
The one thing I will add, which I have not seen anyone else mention, is: Andrew never forgot a kindness rendered to him. A few years ago, I drove him to a surgical appointment and waited for him to get out of durance vile. He reminded me of that multiple times over the years, always with gratitude. (And he drove me to appointments, too. As a matter of fact, he drove me to get 9,000 miles of hose shoved up my behinder region just a couple of weeks ago. And he didn’t want to accept lunch or dinner as payment: I had to force it on him.)
I think Andrew would have enjoyed the things I’ve picked up while I’m on the road. I wish he were still here to see them.
I will probably have more to write after I get home.