Six Years Gone

Clay Marc Bond, professor (Indiana University and Penn State University), blogger (Right Wing Prof), Steelers fan, and my good friend, passed away on this date in 2010. He was only 53 years old.

Longtime readers may remember Right Wing Prof. He commented here often, and he traveled to Philly in 2007 for a meet and greet at Geno’s Steaks. Clay was one of the most kind, generous people you could ever meet. When I was diagnosed with skin cancer, he was more concerned with my meaningless little surgery than his Stage 4 lung cancer. The cancer which ultimately defeated him.

A month before he passed, I drove to Altoona to see him in the hospice home. When I walked in, he pointed to the whiteboard. It had a few dates, times, and names, but right at the bottom, “WYATT” was scrawled across the board in capital letters. He asked me why I traveled all that way to see him, and he was serious. He didn’t think he was worth the trouble. Had I known it would be the last time I would ever see him I probably would have stayed for a few days.

I miss Clay a lot. He was one of the first close friends I ever lost, and the first of a few who I lost to cancer.

God bless you, Clay. I hope they get Penguins games in Heaven. Memory eternal!