Requiem For A Goddamned Batman

I’ve been trying for the last hour to write something appropriate for Scott Eric Kaufman.

Nothing works, however. Nothing fits. I want him to be on the other end of a Facebook instant message, so I could bounce ideas off him for the perfect lead.

I did that, off and on, over the last few years. I know he didn’t do that with very many people, because he really didn’t have to.

He was an amazingly talented writer, equally witty, acerbic, and eager. His world-weariness came from a legion of life experience, and every injustice or triumph he wrote about smacked you in the face like a carp.

We bonded over a love of DOCTOR WHO — he taught several college courses using the British show to bring students into a different mindset. We argued over minutia of the Davison era Doctor through one Saturday night at Dallas Comic Con, and though both of us were punch-drunk by the end of it, neither wanted the conversation to end. That was Scott, through and through. He was tenacious.

There’s a photo of us that our mutual friend Kristen Lucas-Smith took, while we were at Fan Expo Dallas 2015. We’ve both said that it made us look *far* cooler than we deserve. Thing is, though, SEK was that cool. To me, he was the coolest person I knew.

Scott’s gone. His health took a horrible turn earlier in the year, and no amount of stubbornness on his part would allow a return to health. I was told “he doesn’t have long, and he’s chosen to go out on his own terms.” They turned off the machines early this week, and he buggered off.

He deserved so much better than this. He deserved to be at home, with his two cantankerous cats, whipping neocons into a frenzy (the relationship he cultivated with Megan Kelly is a thing of beauty). Instead, he’s left us behind to deal with this horrifying world, where nothing is promised.

I’m so glad he’s not in any more pain. I’m frightfully glad he is free from that failed shell. But, goddammit, Scott. We will all miss you. I will miss you every day. I am so sorry. I’m sorry I’ve been crying for the past three days, because I’m certain you would think that was ridiculous. But, this whole thing is ridiculous and absurd, and stupid.

Goodnight, SEK.