Man, 96, holds pre-emptive wake

They came with cameras, name tags and old memories, fitting gifts for an aged photographer with hordes of friends and a shaky short-term memory.

It was supposed to be Hugh Ackroyd's wake. And maybe the best part of Sunday afternoon was the fact that Hugh Ackroyd is not dead.

The man who made a career out of shooting photos of barges and ships and boxcars is 96 years old. He planned his wake, and he wasn't embarrassed to admit it. "Well, why not?" he said. "Why bother when (I'm) dead?"



Ackroyd sat in his padded wheelchair at a friend's house, wearing suspenders, a pressed white shirt and an old-fashioned black tie. His hair was thick and white: perfect.

Someone brought a wreath with a ribbon that said: "Eventually, Hugh, rest in peace." Ackroyd got a kick out of that.

The wake? "It's quite magnificent," he said.