再見, John Elton Floyd

[elionwyr]

Bones paused by his computer. "You probably haven't seen this.." He looked at the screen, then looked at me. "John Floyd passed away. I think you knew him..?"

Yes. And it was my honour.

Floyd was a haunter and a videographer here on the east coast. I probably met him in Chicago somewhere around ten or twelve years ago..but he was one of those people that pop up in unexpected locations, so I can't really pinpoint when or where we actually met. By the time he filmed my first (and only) masquerade entry at Arisia in 2003 or so, we were already friends.

And that's how most of us got to know Floyd..somehow, it was because he was videotaping us at a haunt or a convention. He was infamous for taping something and saying, with complete enthusiasm, "That was great! Do it again!" And you did it, and you didn't mind, because Floyd was always such a positive force.

He would drive from New England to western PA, to our house that was never locked. Sometimes the first inkling I had that he was in town was that I'd stumble into the kitchen in the morning and find him carefully scrubbing my landlady's kitchen floor. He always insisted on doing some sort of housework for her in exchange for the use of an air mattress on the floor of her sewing room.

And he'd film for a night or two at the haunt, and then get back on the road to New England by the end of the weekend. His arrival gave us a bit of new energy, and it was always a little sad when we realized he was already gone for the season.

He would have been a marvelous Grisly. His humour was, in my experience, as sweet and as innocent as one would expect from a Grisly. He pretended to speak Chinese so believably that it took someone else commenting on his joke for me to realize he did not, in fact, know a single word of that language . (janusaries, you may now point and laugh.)

He was perfectly willing to put on a dress and stand in a window of the Lizzy Borden house, posing with an axe, so that a fellow haunter could draw attention to him from the street so they could tape people's reactions.
His response to a particularly embarrassing belch from me one night was to say, without missing a beat, "I will MARRY you!" One friend has commented to me that half of the laughs he remembers have one common denominator..and that's Floyd.

In January, I was told Floyd had lung cancer. He lived a healthy life, making the diagnosis bitterly unfair. Treatment left him with a high wispy voice, but by April he was starting to poke fun at his condition. He visited a haunt in Salem and posed next to one of the skeletal props, asking which of them looked worse.

And that's pretty typical of Floyd.

It is surreal, and impossible, to believe that I won't see John Floyd at some random event in the near future. He was, simply put, one of the sweetest haunters I've ever known...and I'm pretty sure he's thinking up some ridiculous way of making his presence known from whatever afterlife he's videotaping from right now.

He will be missed.

9/10/60 - 8/12/12

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Obituary here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=john-elton-floyd&pid=159162274&fhid=15463#fbLoggedOut (text after the cut, because stuff on this website isn't always available for free after a certain point) FLOYD, John Elton Of Newton, on August 11, 2012, after a short illness. Beloved son of the late Malcolm T. and Barbara P. (Perry) Floyd. Dear brother of Charles and his wife Carolyn Floyd of Waltham, Virginia Sullivan and her husband James of Arizona , Marjorie Arcand and her husband Daniel of Wellesley. Also survived by 9 nieces and their husbands and 10 great nieces and nephews. John operated his own Home Mantinence Service. John also to the delight of "Newtonians" created Halloweens "Haunted Attractions" for many years. He was an entertainer, comedian and experienced videographer. A Memorial Service will be held in the United Parish of Auburndale, 64 Hancock St., Auburndale, MA, Saturday, August 18 at 11 AM. In lieu of flowers remembrances may be made in John's memory to Our Danny Cancer Fund, UMASS Memorial Foundation, PO Box 2795, Worcester, MA 01613-9938. Burke & Blackington Funeral Home www.BurkeFamilyFuneralHomes.com Published in The Boston Globe on August 14, 2012

Comments

[kf4vkp.livejournal.com]

Hugs

[janusaries.livejournal.com]

You've summed him up beautifully. So many of my haunt and convention memories have him in there somewhere. In a world that often had brutal hours and working conditions, he was always a breath of fresh air and fun to be around.

[elionwyr.livejournal.com]

*hug*

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

Just seeing this now. My condolences. *Hug*