"please give my regards to every trick on the road"

he was supposed to go for years & years. people'd say "i thought he was dead!!" but he endured.
still, the news today from greg was shocking - that someone we knew (his longest off-on friend, since both were age 5, over 40 yrs ago) finally passed. the fellow, a whisky-voiced local cult-legend punk "karaoke cowboy" singer-songwriter, i knew off & on for decades, too. he was always creating, always destroying. charming, known by hundreds, admired, despised, followed like a messiah, ignored like a bum, with personality as big & brittle & quirky & ingratiating & difficult as they come, lantern-jawed, talented, six-foot tall, crooked-grinned, a man in black, one of a kind. he loved my husband, who helps men who drink too much, more than he loved me - i was a s**theel, in his eyes, i think, but that's ok because for a while, i was the one who had to collect the dough from him to print our little paper. i called his brother the policeman to try to prompt an intervention. i had to be the bad guy. (brian IS a better person than me, too, & i know it, so that helps - people who prefer brian are just correct in so doing.)
greg said he was in reno, that he'd been sick, & his wife confirmed that he had passed away friday. i can't help but wonder if he really died - i hope that's not too disrespectful. it's just that he endured for so long, & there've been rumors before of his demise... today his myspace pages were active. it's just hard to believe he's finally gone - we weren't close, but he seemed like he'd always be there someplace, testament to the strength of the life force...
i hope that he's just trying to dodge bill collectors... but if he is gone, that he didn't suffer.
he will live on for me, no matter what has happened. i'm glad to have known him, & it doesn't matter what he thought of me. maybe you knew him, too - you can follow this link to others, to listen to his music, get hold of his friends, loved ones, & admirers. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=107645710