Zevon had a wickedly dark sense of humor. He wasn't afraid to face death, and many of his songs were about the subject. From this AP article: "I always like to have violent lyrics and violent music," Zevon told The Associated Press in 1990. "The knowledge of death and fear of death informs my existence. It's a safe, kind of cheerful way of dealing with that issue."
Perhaps that's why I liked his stuff so much. I'll have to break out of my punk funk tonight, dig out the only Zevon CD I own, Excitable Boy, and play it in Zevon's honor and memory tonight.