This story from December 29 tells the tale of one Harpo T. Clown, of Palm Springs, California, who was noticed sadly paying his respects to one Gerald R. Ford, formerly of Palm Desert, California, and formerly President of the United States.  Clown was more easily noticed because he wore blue and white sequins, a green fuzzy wig, and white floppy shoes for the occasion, which took place at a church in Palm Desert.  (Clown stayed near the barricades outside the church and did not actually attend the service in costume).  He wore a painted-on smile, but was likely crying on the inside.

Clown showed reporters a scrapbook containing pictures of him standing alongside President Ford at charity events and golf tournaments in the area, as well as attending the opening of the Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids in 1982.  Though Clown is mute, he wrote notes to reporters and to police officers who came by to investigate.

According to the report, Clown "nodded vigorously when asked if he was a Republican and when asked if he missed his friend, President Ford."  How the apparent bond between the two men developed in the first place, and how it had lasted some twenty-five years, Clown did not say.

Link: AP via SF Gate.com