The world is a much smaller place today. I can't bear to even type this post...Dear Rick Wallach, passed away peacefully the other night night his wife informed me.
A raconteur, reptologist, falconer, co-creaator of The Cormac McCarthy Society, author , critic, deadhead, essayist, life of the party, ner'do'well, turtle love, dog lover, animal lover...and the list is massive. He is truly the representative of the great American spirit. He was a real life Falstaff mixed in with Ignatius O Reilley.
For me...he totally changed my life. Nothing less. He was a mentor. A friend. A father figure. A brother. An entertainer. I first me him on the McCarthy forum in 1996...and frankly I was intimidated. He knew everything. He had been everywhere. He seemed to have read everything. Over the years he introduced me to dozens of books, knowledge, and he taught me a lot of confidence. He put my husband and I up a few times in his beautiful house in Miami and his wife became our friend too. He wouldn't let us leave. He drove us all over Florida looking at animals and being crazy foodies. He was such a foodie...he may have created the lifestyle. He was kind and terribly terribly funny.
I wish I was better equipped to write today. It's taken me hours to compose myself to write this. I hope others who might know him here will share some of their thoughts. I know Marty Priola (McCarthy Society member) is going to post something on reddit this afternoon...and he is so much better at communicating than I am.
If we were talking books he would insist to anyone who hadn't read it to read Blood Meridian. And The Vivisectionist by Patrick White. I also dearly remember how much he loved Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
He came on our The Agency podcast a few times. The last time was to discuss his book GODZILLA, which he just wrote this year. This is the worst sad news...and I have this weirdest feelings that I want to phone Rick and tell him Rick Wallach has passed away...it's inter dimensional because how could he not be here.
I hope he's meeting his friend Peter and having a key lime milkshake while Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir jam for them.
