Pete Wilson and Aunt Lina

Wow. Just... wow.

Friday night, one of my favorite talk show hosts died: Pete Wilson of KGO radio. He had a heart attack during hip replacement surgery Thursday evening. The medical staff at Stanford tried to keep him alive, but ultimately took him off life support Friday evening.

He was on from 2-4 PM, Monday through Friday, and for some time now, I've been relying upon Pete to keep me entertained and informed while out on my daily runs or hikes.

The irony of his death is that during his final hour Wednesday afternoon, he expressed his anxiety over the upcoming operation and asked listeners to call in with their own surgery horror stories. I was out for a run at the time, but when I got home I sent him an email telling him about my tonsillectomy a few years back, and mentioned that at least he'd be able to eat during his recovery.

Thursday and Friday, Gene Burns (another of my favorites) was sitting in on Pete's program, while Dr. Bill Wattenburg was doing Gene's program. I listened to Gene both days, but heard nothing of Pete's situation. I hadn't listened at all over the weekend, and only heard about it Monday when I tuned in at 2 PM to hear Gene.

On top of this, Saturday morning my mom's aunt Lina was admitted to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. She was later diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer -- the same thing that killed my mom eight years ago. My uncle Richard called to tell me she'd been given 2-10 weeks to live.

This morning he called again to tell me she'd passed away yesterday, a mere two days after being admitted. There's a memorial service Sunday, in Atascadero.