Remembering Milton Guidry

It is with heavy hearts that we bid farewell to our dear friend, Spider. A long time patron and performer at the Blue Moon, one would always leave a “Spider conversation” with a huge smile (and a slightly confused looked) on their face. Always greeting Mark at the Moon with his notorious one-liner, “Hey Hey! Uh, it’s a hostile environment over here!” Spider had a kind and beautiful soul. His presence will forever be missed. Rest in peace Spidy. “True story”.

The first words Milton “Spider” Guidry ever spoke to me were in a crowd at South by Southwest in 2005. “Hey, Nick, you know what they say about me? I’m a little shakey,” he said as he laughed and shook a shaker egg – an oval percussion instrument similar to a maraca. That’s the way I will always remember Spider: rolling off one liners – some great, others groan inducing – and speaking to you as if he had known you all his life. On Saturday, August 16, Guidry passed away in California after suffering either a stroke or heart attack, according to his sister Jill Guidry.

Guidry, 61, had family in California but was 100 percent a Lafayette character – even called the Cajun Kramer by some for his similarity to the Seinfeld character. Something of a mascot – and sometimes rub board player -for local bands, he could be seen at all kind of local shows and even touring with bands such as Terrance Simien and Lil’ Band O’ Gold. A performer in his own right, Guidry did a Vegas-style lounge act under the name  Your Pal Spidey that combined his humor and another love: Frank Sinatra, who he bragged about seeing live on a couple occasions. He also hosted “Saints Line”on AOC, discussing his love for the Black and Gold. It’s fitting that one of his last actions may have been watching the Saints beat the Titans as he is thought to have called his brother to find a place to watch the game.

Jill Guidry notes a memorial service is planned for Saturday, August 30th, but no time or place had been chosen. She and her family wishes to thank the outpouring of sympathy for Spider on social media.  “We appreciate their kindness and their stories of Milt’s life. We knew Milt knew a lot of people, but didn’t realize it was to this magnitude. We are reading condolences on Facebook from a number of people that his mom and siblings don’t know. My brother-in-law, Craig, who died of lymphoma 5 years ago, always called him ‘The Mayor’ of Lafayette.”

True story.