{"id":16618,"date":"2014-12-02T10:32:49","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T15:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/?p=16618"},"modified":"2014-12-02T10:35:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T15:35:17","slug":"witness-the-grace-and-humor-of-rocky-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/02\/witness-the-grace-and-humor-of-rocky-wood\/","title":{"rendered":"Witness the grace and humor of Rocky Wood"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if I wasn’t morose enough yesterday, it having been my late father’s birthday<\/a>, I also learned that Rocky Wood, former president of the Horror Writers Association, and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, had succumbed to ALS, with which he’d been diagnosed in 2010.<\/p>\n

I didn’t think I’d ever taken a picture with Rocky, but it turns out that Ellen Datlow<\/a> caught us at the Stoker Awards weekend in 2009.<\/p>\n

\"ScottEdelmanRockyWood\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rocky and I had many lengthy conversations over the years across many continents, several on the subject of Stephen King, something he knew more about than anyone in the world, even King himself. I’m going to miss those talks, and I’m not alone. His contributions to the horror field in general and to the smooth running of the Horror Writers Association in specific cannot be measured.<\/p>\n

Even as he was battling his disease, Rocky continued to attend conventions, such as World Horror in Portland earlier this year, and remained a vital part of the horror community. Back at the Stoker banquet in 2012, when we co-presented the award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel, Rocky suggested we make his inability to speak from the stage a part of our shtick. Watch below as he deals with his condition with grace and humor. (Feel free to stop, though, when I start reading the lengthy acceptance speech for the winner who wasn’t present.)<\/p>\n

I may be the one doing the talking, but it was all Rocky’s idea.<\/p>\n