Rest In Peace, George

My heart is heavy with the news that my friend and fellow author George Wier has lost his battle with esophageal cancer. The world is a darker place without George’s sense of humor and many talents in it.

Though we lived in different parts of the country, and most of our contact over the years was through e-mail or Facebook messages or telephone calls, I learned a lot from George. He was always a loyal friend, a source of entertainment as well as advice, and George was one of those professionals who was as excited and pleased with the success of his friends as he was with his own.

The last time we went through Texas, George was under the weather and we promised each other we would get together another time, as we did previously, along with another of my favorite authors and dearest friends, Billy Kring, in this earlier meeting. I remember George looking around the table that day and saying, “You know guys, the first liar doesn’t stand a chance around here!”

George was suffering greatly the last time I talked to him two or three weeks ago, but he did not feel the least bit sorry for himself. He told me that he had lived a life with few regrets and that whatever happened, he was looking forward to the next adventure in this world or whatever comes next.

George was an accomplished author, with such popular works as the Bill Travis mystery series and a number of short stories and books on everything from science fiction to steampunk to his credit, and not many people could turn a phrase like he did. The man was a true wordsmith.

But he was so much more than that. George was an amazing artist, and I always told him that someday I wanted to have one of his drawings hanging on my wall. Whether he was working in color or pen and ink, his creations grabbed you and wouldn’t let go. George was also a musician, and he could do things with a violin that would make you sit up and take notice and leave you speechless.

With all of those accomplishments under his belt, I think George’s biggest claim to fame was the many friends he had, from other authors and artists, to people in the legal profession, medicine, and blue-collar working folk, too. Nobody was too far above George or too far below him that he wouldn’t take the time to earn their friendship. I know that I’m a richer man for having known him.

Rest in peace, brother. I miss you already.

Thought For The Day – There is no greater memory than the sound of a friend’s laugh. May it drown out the sound of my cries.