A friend of mine that I never met; a guy I talked to on the phone, shared email and forum conversations with; a man who offered me his advice, and his assistance; and who I was planning to visit later this year...
A good man died yesterday.
Steve Herod, known to the Nation of Riflemen as Airboss, host and owner of "Area .45"; and a damned fine gentleman died of a massive heart attack on his home/ranch (what exactly do you call acreage without crops or range animals?) near Houston Friday afternoon.
You can read some more detail here at KimDuToit.com ; and at Smoke on the Water
All I can think is, at least he dide living the way he wanted to. He made his own choices, and controlled his own destiny.
The last time I talked to him on the phone was a few weeks back; when things were looking pretty dark on the employment front. We were talking about the bullshit he had put up with in his career(s) and how he decided he was going to do things HIS way, so he just up and did it.
That was Steve to me right there. I just wish I'd had the time to get to know him better.
It may be cheezy but whenever someone I know dies, I think of this righteous brothers song, "Rock and Roll Heaven"
"Rock and Roll Heaven"
If you believe in forever,
Then life is just a one-night stand.
If there's a rock and roll heaven,
Well you know they've got a hell of a band, band, band.
Jimmy gave us rainbows,
And Janis took a piece of our hearts,
And Otis brought us all to the dock of a bay.
Sing a song to light my fire,
Remember Jim that way,
They've all found another place, another place to play.
Remember bad bad Leroy Brown,
Hey Jimmy touched us with that song.
Time won't change a friend we came to know.
And Bobby gave us Mack the Knife,
Well look out, he's back in town.
They'll all be there together
When they meet in one big show.
There's a spotlight waiting
No matter who you are
Cuz everybody's got a song to sing,
Everyone's a star
Everybody's got to be a star.
I just know that Steve has found another place to play; he's off somewhere shooting his guns (and all those ones he couldnt get anymore because of government interference) and offering his many, strong, well informed, and well articulated opinions, with jsut a little odd twist to them.
I should mention; a lot of steves good friends are up in Idaho right now for the Boomershoot including Kim, and a few of the NoR. I can guarantee you Steve is getting a proper 21 (hell, 210 gun) salute; with a few boomers thrown in.
Oh and one last thing; Steve is going to be cremated, in a service with full military honors; and his ashes will be stored in a .50 cal ammo can. I couldn't think of a better way to handle it than that.
Requiescat In Pace Airboss
