The page tells the pictorial story of a unique event I had the distinct pleasure of attending.
Wakes tend to be pretty solemn affairs. Someone you presumably care about has just shed their mortal coil, and friends and family show up to mourn and celebrate them. It's a shame they're sad affairs... generally, it's the only time apart from a wedding that you really get family and friends together from all over the country or world.
Lonnie Hammargren decided that he wasn't going to do it that way. If you're going to get everyone around to celebrate you, do it while you're still alive. Why not subvert the usual way of doing things, and throw yourself a wake while you're still alive? There's a genius to this plan. It may have been done before, but I will guarantee it's never been done with this much flair.
Following is my impressions from a few days in Lonnie's world.
Since I first met my wife, I've heard interesting stories about "Cousin
Lonnie" out in Las Vegas. I'd never met him (and neither had my wife
or her brother), but he had a bizarre
mythology built up around him. Dr. Lonnie Hammargren.
Renowned
neurosurgeon.
Former Lieutenant Governor of Nevada.
NASA Flight Surgeon.
Rocket Scientist. Advocate for
extra terrestrial visits to Nevada.
Amateur
archaeoastronomer. And by all accounts, either the best or worst interior
decorator of all time, depending on your taste. The house was what I'd heard about most, mostly
because it's the most tangible aspect of his eccentricities. We even
managed to catch an
HGTV airing of Extreme Homes covered the house in detail:
stunning doesn't cover it.
(Interested parties can read a great little article on Lonnie
here. I cribbed a lot of info from
there.)
Sometime in February of 2007, I received an invite in the mail:
Needless to say, I just about broke my neck rushing to the computer to book a plane ticket.
(Many thanks to Lonnie for issuing the invitation in the first place. I'm his first cousin' son-in-law, who he's never met. It takes a generous man to extend his invitations several thousand miles and several jumps on the family tree away.)
Following is a walk through the events of that fine day...