Last Thursday, the elderly pastor and Family Radio host best known for birthing an all-consuming "May 21st" rapture meme suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. The Oakland Tribune reported that the 89-year-old Harold Camping's voice "may never be the same" after suffering a stroke that left his speech "a little bit slurred" according to a unnamed neighbor.

Back when we thought the rapture prophecy was both humorous (look at this van) and deeply sad (too many naive supporters lost their life savings for a lie), it was impossible to ignore the frequent jokes about Harold Camping's age factoring into his apocalyptic prognostication. "He's 89. Actuarially speaking, he's probably not that far off," quipped Jon Stewart about the Family Radio host before the May 21st date.

As of now, it appears unclear if/when Camping will return to his perch as broadcaster on Family Radio. Fox News relayed a message from his manager stating that an update on his health will be issued today. If he does return to the radio, he'll be back in the limelight in a few short months: due to a slight miscalculation, the full-blown apocalypse forecast is now scheduled for October 21st.

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Erik Hayden