Hi all,

Last Saturday Curt of Curt & Bobby Pearson called to tell us the bad news. They spend a lot of time in the field, so naturally they had logged many hours with Patrick and they loved him and were always telling us stories of his abilities and his kindness. It hit them pretty hard.

It cast a pall over the world and I avoided Tweeters till just now. But reading the outpouring of emotions made me feel proud of and good about the birding community. So many folks cared and said so so eloquently?but darn you folks who made us cry!

I only was in Patrick?s actual presence for a half an hour, and he was great, exactly like everyone said. He was also a wonderful corresponder and I had just a week ago purchased permission to use on my website his shot of a Streaked Horned Lark that appeared in WA Birder and is one of my two or three favorite bird photos of all time?partly because until I saw the photo, it never would have occurred to me that this bird was gorgeous or even to be completely honest that a Horned Lark could be gorgeous, and partly because the photo is aesthetically perfect in terms of line color and composition, with its complementary S-curves, and informative about both bird and habitat. But it was just one of many, I thought, more to come.

This is a terrible loss for us, for birding, and of course a terrible loss for Ruth, and so sad for how hard it must have been for Patrick. Somebody said he was determined that something good will come of Patrick?s death. From my experience I don?t think that?s a given, but it?s a brave thought and I think we can all try to make it true somehow.

Ed Newbold ednewbold1 at yahoo.com Seattle




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