Fred Schreiber Obituary, Death – I was stunned and saddened to read of the death of Fred Schreiber, better known as Fred the Elephant Boy on Howard Stern’s show. I’ll miss him terribly. I got to know Fred rather well because he was a horror fiction fan who frequently expressed his appreciation for the work I had done. Twitter was the first medium via which we communicated before agreeing to meet in person. Many people are unaware that he had a good sense of humor (despite the fact that he frequently shared ridiculous jokes on Twitter), that he was also a voracious reader, and that he was a lovely guy in general (despite the fact that he frequently shared silly jokes on Twitter).
Despite the fact that he was unable to do so, Fred was kind enough to donate money to the Hudson Valley Humane Society while I was holding a competition to name a character in my novel Ragman. The task was to name a character from the novel Ragman. The only thing he asked was that I spare his life in the novel; he wanted to play a pivotal role in the plot. I agreed to his proposal. As a result, I recast him as a member of the law enforcement community working with a murder investigation. He has such a positive attitude!
I last spoke with Fred shortly before Thanksgiving, and I informed him that his contributor copy of the book was on its way. That was my last conversation with Fred. Prior to that, I hadn’t seen him or heard from him in a long time. He couldn’t stop himself from putting his hands on the book and reading his own piece. I am unable to confirm whether or not he was ever given the opportunity because he was admitted to the hospital a few days later, so I am unable to confirm whether or not he was ever given the opportunity. I’m hoping he did.