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thatcrazycajunAm finally able to get online again for the first time since yesterday morning; my laptop appears to have had its wireless Internet software hopelessly cocked-up by my installation of an EarthLink client for connecting via dial-up, leading to the failure of connection at our cheap motel room last night and the necessity of a system-restore wipe today to enable connecting at a Metairie Barnes & Noble. My pants are way bankrupt, but I will try catching up later on the hundreds of LJ entries in my friends page since then.
But yesterday morning, I got shocking and saddening news: One of my earliest fannish mentors, Joey "The Big Reel" Grillot of New Orleans, passed away at 4 AM on Christmas morning. He had been in poor health for some while, and heart trouble and pneumonia in both lungs combined in a one-two punch to do him in. So far, the Times-Picayune has not as yet printed his obit, so I can't recall how old he was. But his death leaves a tremendous hole in New Orleans fandom, and in SF/fantasy fandom in general, that cannot be refilled.crystalgee has been kind enough to repost Robert Neagle's e-mail from yesterday regarding Joey's death, which has more information.
Joey was one of the first friends I made back in the day, as a callow 15-year-old attending his first cons in New Orleans. Much of my appreciation of SF cinema, and film of the 20th century in general, I owe to him and his encyclopedic knowledge, as well as his running and scheduling of film rooms at cons from small local one-dayers to Worldcons around the country, back before the Internet and home video obviated most cons' need for a film room. Joey introduced me to classics like Forbidden Planet and This Island Earth, as well as lesser gems like the Bowery Boys series and Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (no lie!). He also opened his home to me many times when I needed a place to stay, including one memorable weekend in my college years when I passed out drunk at a party from drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster mixed in a garbage can (several different varieties of liquor including Everclear) and poor Joey had to drag me back to his then-abode (on St. Roch Ave. in the now-notorious Ninth Ward) and pour my dog-sick ass onto a Greyhound back to LSU. I still can't believe he's gone; I can't imagine N'awlins without him.
Then this morning, as the Songbird and I were having a late brunch at a new establishment on Veterans Blvd. in Metairie called New Orleans Breakfast & Pancake House (very good and generous portions), we saw on the flatscreen there that CNN reported former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination yesterday by a militant suicide assailant while leaving a rally in the capital. Much of my f-list seems to have already caught the news, so I won't rehash here but will instead refer you tofilkertom or figmo for details and links.
I figured we'd have at least one or two more celebrity deaths in these last few days of 2007, but wasn't expecting anything quite this spectacular; of course, no one ever is. I can only suggest that, with Pakistan already under what is basically martial law and the heel of strongman Pervez Musharraf, we all pray for peace on Earth just a little bit harder.
UPDATE, 2:08p: Robert informs me today that a wake for Joey Grillot will be held at the funeral home of Schoen and Son at 3827 Canal St., New Orleans, Friday evening 6 – 9 pm and Saturday morning 9 – 11 am. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the funeral on the Schoen premises at 11:00 AM, on Sat., Dec. 29. Interment will take place in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery No. 2. Friends may visit from 6-9 PM on Friday, Dec. 28, and after 9:00 AM on Sat.
UPDATE, Fri. 12/28, 11:10p: The corrected link for Joey's memorial guest book is here.
But yesterday morning, I got shocking and saddening news: One of my earliest fannish mentors, Joey "The Big Reel" Grillot of New Orleans, passed away at 4 AM on Christmas morning. He had been in poor health for some while, and heart trouble and pneumonia in both lungs combined in a one-two punch to do him in. So far, the Times-Picayune has not as yet printed his obit, so I can't recall how old he was. But his death leaves a tremendous hole in New Orleans fandom, and in SF/fantasy fandom in general, that cannot be refilled.
crystalgee has been kind enough to repost Robert Neagle's e-mail from yesterday regarding Joey's death, which has more information.Joey was one of the first friends I made back in the day, as a callow 15-year-old attending his first cons in New Orleans. Much of my appreciation of SF cinema, and film of the 20th century in general, I owe to him and his encyclopedic knowledge, as well as his running and scheduling of film rooms at cons from small local one-dayers to Worldcons around the country, back before the Internet and home video obviated most cons' need for a film room. Joey introduced me to classics like Forbidden Planet and This Island Earth, as well as lesser gems like the Bowery Boys series and Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (no lie!). He also opened his home to me many times when I needed a place to stay, including one memorable weekend in my college years when I passed out drunk at a party from drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster mixed in a garbage can (several different varieties of liquor including Everclear) and poor Joey had to drag me back to his then-abode (on St. Roch Ave. in the now-notorious Ninth Ward) and pour my dog-sick ass onto a Greyhound back to LSU. I still can't believe he's gone; I can't imagine N'awlins without him.
Then this morning, as the Songbird and I were having a late brunch at a new establishment on Veterans Blvd. in Metairie called New Orleans Breakfast & Pancake House (very good and generous portions), we saw on the flatscreen there that CNN reported former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination yesterday by a militant suicide assailant while leaving a rally in the capital. Much of my f-list seems to have already caught the news, so I won't rehash here but will instead refer you to
filkertom or figmo for details and links.I figured we'd have at least one or two more celebrity deaths in these last few days of 2007, but wasn't expecting anything quite this spectacular; of course, no one ever is. I can only suggest that, with Pakistan already under what is basically martial law and the heel of strongman Pervez Musharraf, we all pray for peace on Earth just a little bit harder.
UPDATE, 2:08p: Robert informs me today that a wake for Joey Grillot will be held at the funeral home of Schoen and Son at 3827 Canal St., New Orleans, Friday evening 6 – 9 pm and Saturday morning 9 – 11 am. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend the funeral on the Schoen premises at 11:00 AM, on Sat., Dec. 29. Interment will take place in St. Vincent de Paul Cemetery No. 2. Friends may visit from 6-9 PM on Friday, Dec. 28, and after 9:00 AM on Sat.
UPDATE, Fri. 12/28, 11:10p: The corrected link for Joey's memorial guest book is here.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-27 10:26 pm (UTC)He said he did that to all wedding invites and no one ever got divorced. I cried when ours had to be cut in 1/2.
He was always someone you could count on at CCC.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-28 01:40 am (UTC)I remember Joey from so many cons.. too many stories to tell
RIP Joey-heaven has a projectionist..