"I'm one of those kind of guys that likes it everywhere I go."

That was Bill Scott. On July 2, 2026, the world lost one of its great characters. To some of us, he'll always be Daddy Boo, Wee Willie Winkie, or simply Bill.

Bill was a spark of light. He was silly and kind and very funny. People couldn't help smiling around him. He made up his own language, handed out nicknames like candy, quoted Looney Tunes with impressive frequency, and kept an endless supply of surprising commentary on life.

"Imagine sneaking up on the enemy and hiccuping. What a downer."

"Imagine trying to put a skirt on a crocodile."

"What a hell of a way to die, being tickled to death."

This was Bill.

He was born in Fort Erie, Ontario, in 1941, the baby boy of the family. He grew up on a farm in Stoney Creek, before moving into the great cosmopolitan centre of Fort Erie, where he spent most of his life. For 35 years, he and his wife Linda owned the Fort Erie Shopper. His staff loved him. Everyone did.

More than almost anything, Bill loved seeing people happy. He was an earth angel with a mischievous streak, and he left everybody a little happier than he found them.

His favourite life advice was simple: "If you have something nice to say to somebody, say it. Otherwise, it's like buying someone a present and not giving it to them."

And he lived it. He complimented strangers. He said out loud the awesome things the rest of us only think.

The Scott household was proudly Scottish, arguably more Scottish than Scotland. Bill learned the bagpipes, started the Fort Erie Pipes and Drums, and became its Pipe Major. Between the band practices, the young pipers learning their notes at the kitchen table, and all friends and family popping in for ‘a quick one’ and a giggle, quiet was never on the program.

And Bill stayed Bill right to the end.

At the youthful age of 84:

On his physique: "I need to take care of my physique. You never know when a sweetie pie will come by." (Bill only ever had one girlfriend in his life, and he married her. But he was keeping his options open.)

On his fortitude: "I'm tough like butterfly."

When a friend told him he needed to get better: "How can you get better when you're perfect?"

On his memory: "With this damn memory, I wouldn't be good in a witness protection agency, would I?"

On one particularly impressive cough: "My cough sounds like an old warthog in heat."

Fifteen years after losing his wife, Bill is with his Linda again. One beautiful day, sitting in the garden in the sunshine, with a gentle breeze and the birds chirping around him, he looked around and said: "Heaven couldn't be any better than this."

Perfectly said, Daddy Boo.

Of all the souls in this enormous universe, how lucky am I to have had this one as my dad. Funny, silly, sparkling, positive and completely original.

So, make Bill proud. Say the nice things that are in your heart. Make somebody laugh. Be silly.

Don't leave the present wrapped.

XO, Amikins