Jay Lake arrives at JayWake. Used under Creative Commons.

Tons of photos of the JayWake on Jay Lake’s Livejournal. As promised, Jay was delivered to his pre-mortem eulogy and roast in a coffin–

JayWake. There were all these people. A coffin. (A very hot, dark, coffin.) Books. Some good food. Friends from Germany, Canada, Connecticut, Texas, Utah, California, Washington, Arizona and elsewhere. A lot of laughter. Some mortification. Deep embarrassment. Profound amusement. Joy. Love. More than I can ever describe, or thank, or return.

Ruth Nestvold’s report Saying goodbye with a laugh: The Jay Lake Wake comes highly recommended by Jay. It provides more narrative, and different photos.

It was amazingly funny and fun, given the fact that the reason for the party was Jay’s diagnosis as terminal. Once enough people had lovingly abused Jay, he got up to have his own say.

The humor left the room for a little while, to be replaced by the seriousness of the situation, which we were all trying to repress, or at least chase away for a couple of hours with a few jokes.