HALLOWELL — It was maybe the best news Lisa Gilliam had received in a long time: More than two decades after his death, Warren Zevon was going to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Twenty years of campaigning for his entry had paid off. Gilliam’s behind-the-scenes work running social media pages and rallying votes for his entry — a side gig that connected her with Zevon’s family and tens of thousands of his fans across the world — was finally complete.

“I was absolutely thrilled to find out he finally made it,” Gilliam said. “Finally, after all these years. And not just me, but people that he worked with in the industry that wanted him to get this recognition. I think all of us are just so happy for Warren and his legacy, for his family. I know this means an awful lot to his family.”

Zevon was thoroughly musical; he wrote and recorded an album even in his last months, when he was dying of mesothelioma. His songs were packed with dry wit and lost love, and his fans formed a cult following that for more than two decades propelled Zevon into charts, hearts and minds. But not the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

Gilliam, who works as Hallowell’s city clerk when she’s not convincing thousands of people on social media to cast their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ballots, joined the ranks of Zevon’s fans in 1988.

She saw Zevon perform on “Late Night with David Letterman,” and she was hooked. She ran to the record store to buy a cassette tape of Zevon’s greatest hits.

“Loved everything about the song, loved the sound, loved him, and just wanted to explore more to hear what else there was out there,” Gilliam said.

Gilliam finally got a chance to see Zevon perform live at Portland’s State Theatre in 1995. She stood outside the building after the show, hoping to meet the legend she’d now been a fan of for the better part of a decade.

“I was nervous, obviously, because I was such a fan,” she said. “And then the minute I met him, he was just so at ease.”

She met Zevon again a year later, and again two years after that. Each time, he remembered her. And each time, they chatted extensively about touring and the books he was reading. He was normal, Gilliam said. Down to earth.

That’s what made Zevon’s terminal cancer diagnosis in 2002 so devastating to Gilliam. The world lost a good one too soon, she said.

Zevon made one last appearance on Letterman’s show that year, performing songs and reminiscing. Gilliam watched on TV. Letterman asked if he’d learned anything about life, given his impending death. “How much you’re supposed to enjoy every sandwich,” Zevon replied.

He died in September 2003, about two weeks after the release of his final album, “The Wind.”

For a while, Gilliam couldn’t listen to the album. It was devastating, she said, to listen to Zevon’s final lyrics.

But once she finally did listen to the record again in 2005, she couldn’t stop. She was so enthralled, in fact, that she made a MySpace page calling for Zevon to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — a page that built up 18,000 followers and brought her into contact with Zevon’s son, Jordan, who approved of the page and encouraged her to continue advocating.

MySpace eventually died off with the advent of Facebook, but Gilliam’s will didn’t. She made a new page on Facebook in 2010, called “Induct Warren Zevon Into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

That page, which Gilliam still runs with the help of Jordan Zevon, now has 58,000 followers.

Gilliam’s group led the way two years ago when Zevon was up for a fan vote to get into the Hall of Fame. Despite coming ahead of stars like Willie Nelson and Cheryl Crow, Zevon wasn’t inducted. Last year, he missed the ballot altogether.

But in this year’s ceremony, Zevon will be inducted via the Musical Influence category. His music was the focus of a celebratory tribute concert in Los Angeles last week.

“I’m not the only one that’s been vocal about trying to get him into the Hall of Fame,” Gilliam said. “A few years ago, Billy Joel was speaking up about it that he deserves to be in there. David Letterman has been very vocal for years. Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, all of these people and Jordan (Zevon). I’m sure Jordan was disappointed over the years that it wasn’t happening, but I think he always felt in his heart that it would at some point.”

Gilliam hasn’t told many people about her work campaigning for Zevon; it was never about personal recognition, it was about honoring a legacy.

Gilliam’s friend, Rondi Nelson, said Gilliam has worked “tirelessly” for Zevon to get the honor.

“If anyone deserves it, she certainly does,” Nelson said. “She’s so excited about this one. This has been such a big thing for her.”

Gilliam plans to fly with Nelson to Los Angeles for the Nov. 8 induction ceremony, just days after the 2025 elections — her busiest time of the year as Hallowell’s clerk.

It’s worth it, she said.

“This has been 20 years of emails, text messages, phone calls with his son and his former wife — so it’ll be wonderful to meet everybody that night in person. That’s going to be really sweet,” Gilliam said. “Warren left a catalog of music. It’s an incredible legacy that he’s left behind for his family and fans.”

Warren Zevon’s studio albums:

• “Wanted Dead or Alive” (1970)
• “Warren Zevon” (1976)
• “Excitable Boy” (1978)
• “Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School” (1980)
• “The Envoy” (1982)
• “Sentimental Hygiene” (1987)
• “Transverse City” (1989)
• “Hindu Love Gods” (1990), with members of R.E.M. (excluding Michael Stipe)
• “Mr. Bad Example” (1991)
• “Mutineer” (1995)
• “Life’ll Kill Ya” (2000)
• “My Ride’s Here” (2002)
• “The Wind” (2003)
  
  Source: warrenzevon.com