The words coming out of my mouth were hollow, but I pressed on. “I’m sort of rattling things off the top of my head, but there is this young man, Jerome. I wish to dedicate tonight’s show to Jerome. I hope you are okay, buddy. I just want to tell you that you are not alone in thinking your stalwart plans will only vaporize and disappear in the weak rays of light. I have Mickey and Seven Cent and all you out there listening, but can someone tell me why life is so hard?

“I want to ask about loneliness and tears, about frustration, lots of frustration, about my head exploding, about how I ache for love, unconditional love that will last and last, about how hopeless I feel no matter how much I know, of how I will die soon, about how I have so few friends, about all the bad things I’ve done, about how afraid I am of dying in pain, about how I am such a disappointment to those who love me, about how slow I am, about blood coming out of me, about the places I go and don’t come back from, and really, Jerome, for all this the only thing I have to offer is the first tune of the evening, the Waltz in C-sharp Minor, op. 64, by Frédéric Chopin, the man who wrote poems with the piano, who wrote for Saturn’s icy rings and Ulaanbaatar, for Madame Rosa and beautiful Hen and Dixie in her thongs, here we go. I love you all out there in Radioland. Stay warm. Merry Christmas.”

Acknowledgments

On Thom’s behalf, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Richard Fisher, Don Fotheringham, Troy Young, Will Conroy, Braxton Pope, Lee Froehlich, Candida Donadio, and Patrick Keller for their inspiration and many, many years of loyal friendship. For their selfless devotion and canine companionship, eternal thanks to Boxer, Shelby, Manny, and Sugar. May you all look after one another in heaven. For their infinite patience and many, many prescriptions, thank you to Doctors Samuel Coor and William Bradford. Additional thanks to the Olympia Public Library for the ever-revolving supply of books (apologies for the snack stains), and thanks to the Olympia Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services for the countless hypoglycemic revivals. Finally, an enormous thank-you to Ben George of Little, Brown and Jin Auh of the Wylie Agency for this magnificent collection and remembrance of our favorite literary genius, husband, and father.

—Sally and Jenny Jones

Credits