This week, one of our most wonderful members passed from this life. I was privileged to call him my friend, and blessed by his tireless support. Koosie was the gentlest friend I've ever had, he was one of the funniest, he was one of the smartest & sharpest; and when he helped you---which was often---he never, never took credit: He just reminded you that he was only 'trying'. I tried to compliment him many times: He wouldn't hear of it. "I'm just trying, like everybody else," he'd say. Oh Koosie: You were in a class by yourself. You made us all better, truly better: As artists, viewers & as human beings. You were a gentle and loving mountain, the horizon is in mourning without you; you will never know what you meant to us because you were too humble & kind to know that you were a gift to everyone who knew you in this life... He was one of my first friends on Rosity. He saw me through illnesses & losses, encouraged me to build a gallery, and astounded me with his knowledge of the very atoms of art: The poetry of a line, the glory of a single ornament, the joy of a calligraphic letter---just one letter! (friends of Koosie, you know what I mean)---and the 'rightness' of proportion, balance, light, shade, etc: All things we deal with everyday but rarely think about. Koosie saw them all. To his friends, he was a lighthouse: When you lost your way, he gently set you back on right waters...and he never wanted thanks, he never took any credit. He just oozed quality, and he gave it out the way most people said 'hello'... To Karin (Koosie's wife): My blessings & comforts for all you did in those long months, and for being the one who helped him through it all. I am so very sorry for your loss. May the flowers sing for you now, and may you have all the light in the world to guide you. Blessings, Karin. You deserve them all.

Oh Koosie, when I see the stars tonight, I'll think they're you, shining down on us & looking after us. I wish you so much light on your journey, you were such a treasured friend...With all my love & gratitude for everything you did and gave, Mark