Rest in peace, Sexy Rexy.

The annual festival of San Fermin begins today in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. It will be without Rex Howieson, resident of Nottingham, who died in June. His death was reported by my cousin Don Barry, who introduced me to Rex and so many others during those grand old times in Pamplona.

Earlier this summer I elected to rediscover the considerable virtues of the gin and tonic as soothing, cooling libation, and once in a while while imbibing, Rex popped into my mind. I'd been fortunate to have been included on a Pamplona "pig walk," an excursion to a grill restaurant specializing in whole roast pig, led by and fully annotated by Rex. The pig walk included long layovers (both coming and going) in a bar called the Savoy, which serves the finest gin and tonic in memory.

The following  article mentions Rex. It's a matter of significant pride to me that I have had the chance to meet most of the other persons spoken about therein, for which I thank Don and his pal Warren Parker.

Noel Chandler, The Champagne Count of Pamplona's San Fermín (Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel)

At a typical Chandler Champagne party, it common to see many of the following people: Noel Chandler’s long time companion, Nancy Fortier of Atlanta; Jim Hollander, a crack wire photographer based in Tel Aviv; Davey Crockett, a descendant of the famous American frontiersman, a veteran at San Fermín, and survivor of many encierros (bull runs); writer Jesse Graham, a relative of the great Gerald Brenan; the fine New York artist Warren Parker; and British bullfight guru Michael Wigram, all of whom would salute each other with a clink of Champagne flutes. The late Charles Patrick Scanlan, a long-time resident of Spain and one of the most knowledgeable aficionados would be in a corner working out the disposition of season bullfight tickets with Rex Howieson, the group’s semi-official social director.

For those about to enjoy the fiesta, I salute you. For the fallen ... you are remembered. Thanks for teaching me so much about the tradition.

At NAC: ON THE AVENUES: Red scarf, white shirt and San Miguel beer.

At Potable Curmudgeon: From 1998: "Being, Pretending and Other Assorted Daydreams of an Outsider."