I usually love to write, but I find it a miserable task to write in the guest book of a funeral home about someone I was close to and admired greatly.

My best friend from my days at S.D. Lee High and a music icon in those days in Columbus has died in the past couple of weeks. Mahlon Vickery was a terrific drummer and singer, a fabulous artist and designer, and the truest friend one could have.

Many bands in Possum Town benefited from his steady hand and super talent over the years. The Rogues would never have been the band it was without the Big Man’s beat behind it and his gentle sense of humor.

He was well known by one and all back in the day.

I heard of his passing only this morning, and a cloud is hanging over me today. Of course, if Mahlon were here he would tell me to snap the hell out of it.

“It is what it is,” he would say.

He was Mahlon Jr. and his dad Mahlon Sr. was a former police chief of Columbus. His son is Mahlon Vickery III. I am somewhat comforted by the thought that there will always be a Mahlon Vickery.

This is from my posting in his obituary:

Mahlon was my best friend when I was a Junior and Senior at Lee High, and the drummer in my band, the Rogues. He was a great drummer and singer too.

He had one of the greatest senses of humor I have ever known and was known for his warmth and kindness. We all hung out at his mom and dad’s house in Columbus constantly. He had a good stereo (unusual for the time). I remember the Summer we all sat around it and wore out his copy of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” the Who’s “Tommy.”

Ironically, we both ended up as artists in the sign industry, but his talent greatly outshowed mine. It’s been about 20 years since I last was able to talk with him. He moved to Georgia a long time ago and I to South Florida… living in different worlds, but I will never forget him.

My condolences to his wife and family and my message to them is I hope they know that they had all this time with a phenomenal human being. We love you Mahlon and you will be sorely missed.

Goodbye my old friend.

Thom Caraccio ([email protected]) is a retired musician and retired motion picture scenic artist living in West Palm Beach, Florida who hails from Columbus. He graduated from S.D. Lee High in 1968 and still considers Columbus his real hometown.