I didn't even know he was sick.
"Porky" lost a lung to cancer a little over two years ago. Recovering at home, he fell and broke his back. But he kept attending MN Sons of the Desert functions, and planned to attend the 2006 International Convention in Augusta GA. Last month, he learned his lung cancer was back and spread to his brain.
The man had a tough life, but he rarely talked about the bad times. I first met Gordon at the 2000 Sons of the Desert International Convention in Seattle/Tacoma, and had several opportunities to listen to his stories over drinks.
I saw him last in February in LA, when he was spending the winter with Butch & Polly Bond at their San Diego-area home. The Bonds' manager/caretaker drove them up to attend the Hollywood Collectors Show in Burbank. Butch, Polly and Gordon, all three in wheelchairs due to health issues, were in the hotel lobby, checking in a couple days before the show. LA was having a cold & wet weather stretch that week, so I was wearing my L&H sweatshirt. The three of flagged me down, and we wound up talking for a long time in the lobby lounge.
Gordon spoke about the beautiful sunsets he watched from the Bonds' back porch every night. He said the sunset, combined with the lights from the town over the Mexican border was breathtaking... he got choked up describing it. Quite different from the Minnesota sunsets he was used to.
I was really touched by the hospitality that Butch and Polly offered him. The Bonds were certainly in no [health] condition to put themselves out for others... but they did. Butch and Gordon impressed me as a "support team" for each other. They weren't gonna let health problems get in the way of anything!
I last saw Butch Bond in LA in late July, again at the collector show; I wasn't surprised by his passing last month, but it was still a personal shock. I imagine that loss affected Gordon too.
RIP and "O'tay!"
