S. Clay Wilson by Drew Friedman

San Diego Comic Con has been going on all week, so I’ve been looking in on Instagram to see Wilson’s pals rocking out, posing for photos and remembering him getting ready to go to it years ago.

”Is that all you’re taking?” I asked,  looking at his little bag. He was dressed up in his  pale striped blue seersucker Summer suit, white dress shirt, polka dot tie & straw hat. He looked ever so much like Mark Twain’s shirttail relative, perhaps a traveling Bible salesman in the South, except for the baby blue suede Italian loafers & pocket square, which suggested a more sophisticated sartorial splendor.

”What else do I need? I’m just wearing this for two days & Ill be back.” Oh yes…a long hot drive from San Francisco in a full car all the way down & back, plus two long days in a packed Convention Center which is – according to his measurements – a MILE LONG. I sniffed.

I stuffed in a couple more of his “smalls” & another pair of colorful socks, took a shot of him under the bay windows outside, and he was gone, toting his worn out boxy briefcase, covered in stickers, and his tiny leather duffle bag with razor & toothbrush. I discovered his extra underwear & socks on the bed later.

Wilson was an overexcited big KID all his life. He was maddening, hilarious, fun & funny. Birthdays were his favorite Holiday, and he routinely remembered other’s special day by calling to sing Happy Birthday to them at the crack of dawn at the top of his lungs. Then, before they could make a peep, he’d hang up.

Every year in early July, he’d start the campaign for his own Birthday, writing & calling everyone around the world to remind them of the upcoming date. God forbid he should receive no cards or calls on the 25th! They arrived en masse in the weeks before. He stacked them, unopened, until the proper time….ON his Birthday.

I miss him every day.

I’m celebrating your Birthday today my darling, my last husband, my favorite pain in the butt! I’m so grateful for all our memories together that comfort me today & make me chuckle. I forget all manner of little things, but I’ll never forget YOU. ♥️♥️♥️