Just like James Brown, Buckwheat, my job prospects at Gawker, and the hopes and dreams of my generation.
Gerald Ford, people, is still dead. The Seventies are truly over.
What’s the latest scoop on the Dead President front? Perhaps, like Toby Crooke, wicked sexton of the charming town of Golden Friars, his body will lie in state for a time, after which it will be stolen away by a mysterious, swashbuckling foreigner on the back of a huge, black horse. Perhaps, maybe even probably, but after that?
Let’s ask Hunter S. Thompson, who knew the man. From his obituary of Richard Milhous Nixon:
Not even Gerald Ford, the unhappy ex-president who pardoned Nixon and kept him out of prison, was immune to the evil fallout. Ford, who believes strongly in Heaven and Hell, has told more than one of his celebrity golf partners that “I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon…”
Let us not pretend we didn’t see the end coming. We always knew Ford‘s death would be heralded by strange portents (thanks to Miss Cellania for portent-link) and wreathed in paradox and mystery.
The paradox and mystery, from Former Frontier Editor:
Gerald R. Ford, 93, Dies; Led in Watergate’s Wake
By J.Y. Smith and Lou Cannon
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, December 27, 2006; 10:18 AM
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr., 93, who became the 38th president of the United States as a result of some of the most extraordinary events in U.S. history and sought to restore the nation’s confidence in the basic institutions of government, has died. His wife, Betty, reported the death in a statement last night.
“My family joins me in sharing the difficult news that Gerald Ford, our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather has passed away at 93 years of age,” Betty Ford said in a brief statement issued from her husband’s office in Rancho Mirage, Calif. “His life was filled with love of God, his family and his country.”
Ford died at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday (PST) at his home in Rancho Mirage, about 130 miles east of Los Angeles, his office said. No cause of death was given. Ford had battled pneumonia in January and underwent two heart treatments — including an angioplasty — in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester…
J.Y. Smith, a former obituary editor of The Washington Post, died in January.
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Technorati me!
raincoaster 
What amazes me is that, if that’s Billy Preston on the left, that Gerald actually has a bigger grin and more funk with that tie. But where’s George’s WIN button?
Almost forgot – any word on Franco?
Actually, you’re right about that tie, but I’d love to see Ford in an afro.
Franco? Which reminds me I forgot Pinochet in my list. I shall troll Fark.
If Castro actually kicks it I’ll be in a real dilemma: for a ruthless dictator, he was a pretty good guy and I may actually have a hard time making fun of him. Pray for me.
So passes Our Ford. I was really pretty shocked at the dramatic loss of ’70s spirit this holiday season, thank you for covering it so eloquently.
BTW, you’re now in my list of sister cities. Please lemme know if the resulting traffic to your site is overwhelming. :-) Seriously, this is the greatest blog in all of Canada so I hope you don’t mind me giving a sidebar shout-out.
Thanks! Bring the pain, bring the glory!
who’s the guy with the wicked afro? isn’t that one in the middle a beatle? george?
nice pic!
I think it’s Billy Preston on the left, and it’s definitely George Harrison in the middle. I wuv wee Georgie.