Jon Swift RIP.

He was my favourite blogger, and since March of last year I - like many others - have been visiting his site and wondering when he would start posting again. The longer his silence continued, the more we all wondered what had happened to him and started to fear the worst.

It now transpires that Jon Swift passed away on February 27th this year. His mother has posted this:

I don't know how else to tell you all who love this blog. I am Jon Swift's Mom and I guess I'm going to OUT him. He was Al Weisel, my beloved son. Al was on his way to his father's funeral in VA when he suffered 2 aortic aneurysms, a leaky aortic valve and an aortic artery dissection from his heart to his pelvis. He had 3 major surgeries within 24 hours and sometime during those surgeries also suffered a severe stroke. We, his 2 sisters, his brother, his partner and his best friend since he was 9 years old were with him as he took his last breath. We have all lost a shining start who warmed our hearts, tormented us and made us laugh as he giggled at our pulling something over on us. He passed away on February 27, 2010. My beloved child will live on in so many hearts. I miss him more than I can say. If you are on Facebook, go to organizations and join "Friends of Al Weisel, Unite!" It will give you just a taste of how special he was. Farewell, Jon (Al)

That makes me sad. Jon was the greatest satirist on the net and his posts regularly made me laugh out loud.

He will be genuinely missed for the unique contribution he made to political blogging.

Tags: Jon Swift