I first met him in Reno. He used to stop off at the Primm on his way home after a shoot, spend a day or two, and then head off to Wyoming. I always envied his life, going to all those different countries, he might spend a whole month or two, just to get the film that the studio called for. Generally they were places that I had never heard of, and animals that were unknown to me.
They might spend a year or two, flying him here and there, he and his camera, all over the world, just to capture one of two shots that they insisted upon.
Then he would head to Jackson Hole, where his home was, spend some time, and then head out again. How great a life is that, and, they obviously paid him well for his work. He owned a large restaurant, had managers to run it for him, so while, home he spent a lot of his time catching up.
He said he was on his way home, flying over Columbus, Ohio, and thought of me, so he called. A camera crew, including Ben, had been on the East coast filming the unusual behavior of whales and sharks. He had to get home to get his place ready to open for the Summer trade, then, in May, he was off to Australia to film the variety of wild life there for an upcoming movie about early settlers "down under."
He was going to end the Summer in Indonesia, filming a species of birds that they were not even sure, existed. He said he was getting too old for all the crawling and climbing, and that might be his last shoot. He was hoping to locate the species, catalog them, film them and then retire.
I miss those "coffee breaks" we had at the Primm. I hope he flies over Ohio again.
