Excitable boy, they all said

Man, I've avoided writing this for a while. I've avoided everything possible with confronting Warren Zevon's death. It cuts to the bone.

I wouldn't say we were buddies, but I miss him, nonetheless.

Way back in December 1994, I saw that on this newfangled world wide web, there was no such thing as a page/site devoted to Warren Zevon.

So I put up the first one.

As I still have at the bottom of that page: "I don't get paid for this, I do it because Warren deserves a home page more than about any songwriter I can name."

At first, it was the only page out there, and Warren's label mailed me some slides and pix to scan, and a press release or two.

Finally, Warren came through New Orleans, and I got to meet him. The first thing I noticed was that when you were talking to him, he gave you his complete attention. Nobody does that. But he was focused 100% on what you were saying. It was almost intimidating. He was a true gentleman, and one of the funniest guys I've ever known. He was ebullient in thanking me for putting up the page, or as he put it, helping him and his music.

I was awestruck.

I had met him before, and ironically it was the day that the LA Times published something about Bill Lee trying his hand at stand-up comedy. I told him about it, and he got a good chuckle.

The relationship between fans and artists is awkward at best (Gary Numan notwithstanding), and we didn't keep in contact too much. He would occasionally fire off an email (his alias was a character from the movie Careful...you guess it) to me, and clue me in on something, like his symphonette.

So the web expanded, there were more fan pages for him, with much more frequently updated content, and even his cousin and son got in on the act. Finishing up my PhD, getting married, and having 2 children kind of cut into my time.

When I got the news about his cancer, I began searching out everything I could find on him. My webpage was constantly updated, and I followed his appearances extensively. I didn't know how sick he really was, so he obviously turned down my invitation to go fishing in the Keys.

When I heard of his death, I didn't cry. I kind of compartmentalized it. Then, the other day, I broke out my DVD of the VH1 special on him.

Wow.

I played his video of Keep me in your heart repeatedly, and wept like a baby.

I miss him...I wish his grandkids could have gotten to know him better.

Here's to you, Warren.

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I am so sad I can't even breathe.

Ashley was my brother.

Anything, just ask. Anything.