A mainstay at downtown establishments will be remembered Wednesday
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

He was called Capt. Billy or Sailor Bill by the many expats and tourists who knew him in a vague fashion. The nickname was in deference to his time as a torpedoman in the U.S.
Navy or the many years he served as a merchant seaman.

His real name was William Einar Edlund, and he was 77 years old when he died last month in his rented apartment in Tibás.

Of the few who knew him well there were hundreds who knew him as the slender man with the captain's hat who always seemed a bit under the weather. Sailor bill
William Einar Edlund
The expats who frequent the downtown San José bars knew him enough so that they will hold a memorial service in the place Sailor Bill considered a primary residence, the New York Bar on Calle 9. The rememberance will be Wednesday at 1 p.m.

Those who would dismiss Sailor Bill as a simple drunk
would be wrong. He was a man who did things, as in the Frank Sinatra song, "my way."

Robert Foster, another expat who was a friend of Capt. Billy for 23 years, said the man was well-read and knowledgeable. The man was born on Cape Cod to a family of seafarers March 15, 1930. He served on the submarine Trumpetfish as a torpedoman and elsewhere in the U.S. Navy for seven years and later sailed with merchant vessels. He had no Ch*ldren and never married, said Foster.

What Capt. Billy had was a schedule. He was to arrive at one of a handful of downtown bars before midday and drink beer until he felt the time had come to go home.

Then he would say goodbye to those nearby in a gravely voice that frequently was not easily understood. He avoided muggings by nearly always taking a taxi home and doing so early in the evening.

He smoked heavily.

He was envied by many tourists and expats who believed that they, too, would enjoy the freedom that Costa Rica gives, to spend their days grasping a cold beer, chain smoking and swapping stories with friends.

Was he the guy with the white beard and a raspy voice that was in NYB most afternoons?

Just a thought: Since CPT Bill was a veteran, he should be entitled to a military funeral. They add a most memorable facet to a very solemn event. I am not sure whether the embassy in all cases will do one, but if Capt Bill is to be buried in country, it might be worth making the inquiry. If not, and he is buried back in the states, a friend should remember to arrange it.

There are alot of qualifications which determine whether a person is a "legend" or not, and he does not come close....he was a hanger on....WE HAVE LEGENDS ON THIS BOARD!!!! I could start a list...sorry, but he is not on it!!