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Darcy Brockbank: A Tribute “The captain of his soul” By Robert Hughes Ted Tenold, Darcy’s close friend and longtime business associate had the unenviable task of sharing this tragedy with our community. Thus, we began to mourn the loss of our nihonto associate and friend…. While at the same time, many condolences have registered Darcy’s great achievements and his educational legacy. This is the part that really deserves a life celebration for there is much that he generously shared! Just as one piece of a puzzle never represents the completed work, singular perceptions never define the magnitude of a person’s character. So, from the ever increasing list of heartfelt condolences following Ted’s notification, I have borrowed a few essential elements to quote here. I hope no one minds… By assembling a few shared thoughts, quite an amazing picture emerges. The condolences and reflections are like small pieces of tile, and when combined leave us with a large life mosaic. The mosaic records our sense of loss while recognizing the contributions he made to us. Darcy masterfully bundled three somewhat incongruous elements together: sword scholarship, friendship, and commercial activity. As many have attested, it truly was a blessing to be the beneficiary of even one, if not all three elements. Many important sword and fittings collections arose or were enhanced through either guidance or acquisitions from Darcy. With intelligence and a superb sense of refinement, Darcy had a great eye and appreciation for fine samurai art and beauty in life. With all his accomplishments, he was never vain. A trait he may have inherited from his recently deceased father who had been a well-respected teacher and school principal in Ontario. The apple never falls far from the tree… Mosaic Life Tiles “most respected and trusted scholar” John V. (Glencoe Il.) “inconceivable” Stephen (Iowa)he would do things like get a bunch of sleeping bags and give them to the homeless on the coldest nights in Montreal” Curran (Pirate Coves, USA)“nihonto legend… I’m crushed.” “He didn’t tolerate unethical dealings and fraud.” Brian (South Africa) “no words adequate to express this terrible loss” Ray (Florida) “amazing wealth of knowledge” Greg F (Australia) “a living legend has gone” Chris (Bavaria) "a devasting loss” Jussi (Finland)“ “a leader in the nihonto community” Mark S. (Illinois) “his reach was far, his knowledge was great, his friendship will be missed” B. Hennick (Canada) “he shared his time and knowledge which was more precious” Matt (Virginia) “very passionate guy searching for the truth” Robert (New York) “my mind is in turmoil” Jean L. (France) “and the sleepless nights he spent answering even the most ridiculous of emails and random enquiries in his honest, lengthy, didactic manner. Trying to teach, elucidate, steer. Often taking other people’s burdens upon himself.” Michael S. (UK) And so on…. the mosaic is taking shape….. Those that followed Darcy’s recent adventures know that during the onset of the pandemic, he relocated to Japan from Thailand. Little by little, flight opportunities diminished and Darcy found himself a temporary but long term resident in Japan. It was not a hardship arrangement, as his residency became the Grand Hyatt in Roppongi Hills. As his stay morphed into months, Darcy became a hotel feature and dined regularly with the manager. This, in turn, endeared special treatment and eventually he received a luxury suite for a near regular room rate. As a long term hotel resident, the staff found him friendly and interesting. Even during the winter months, he could be seen in the neighborhood walking around in a black t-shirt and short pants. Growing up in Canada, he had developed some immunity to the cold. Japanese were amazed. During this period in Japan, Darcy became close to Hisashi Saito of Ginza Seikodo. They made a habit of dining together regularly. I often joined them. We searched for venues that remained opened and that served libations which proved to be a tricky arrangement. This was during the pre-vaccination phase. These were eerie nights out because we often found ourselves the only patrons in the venues. Infection rates were like waves rising and falling. During a short window of opportunity when infections had dropped and there was a temporary respite in civic restrictions, the Grand Hyatt set up an evening of entertainment with the great Konishiki Yasokichi on ukulele and his wife as vocalist. Konishiki was the first non-Japanese born sumo wrestler to reach ozeki. Darcy got three tickets and we made the best of a great evening together. As you will see below, sword dealers are big celebrities, so even Konishiki decided to photo bomb our selfie! There were only a dozen tables and we lowered our guard… Darcy was generous as always and he picked up the tab. He loved hearing stories of my four decades in the sword trade in Japan. One night he suggested that I should initiate fireside chats on-line, smoke a pipe, and tell sword stories. We shared many laughs… When I think of Darcy, Henley’s poem “Invictus” comes to mind. Darcy accomplished much and took bold strides through life. He truly had an unconquerable soul, for which he was master and captain. As a fellow Canadian, I am proud to have been one of his friends. I raise a glass of fine Primitivo Di Maduria in his honor! Invictus By William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeoning of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. Please continue to leave individual messages under Ted’s original notice. My intention is not to hijack his thread… Stay well! Robert Hughes

Dear friends, It is heartwarming to see the concern felt for Guido. Please keep him in your thoughts and meditations. However, it seems the rumor mill was spinning recently regarding his situation. Guido was given follow-up surgery in December to relieve pressure that was still being exerted on his brain. The situation is still dire as there are few signs of improvement other than some eye activity and some wrist movement, but these small signs are positive. It is not known where this will lead and whether any rehabilitation can be effective. Sadly, I have nothing more to report at this time, but if I receive any developmental news, I will certainly keep our community informed. Best Regards, Robert

Thank you for posting that picture, Joel. I had always wondered what Darcy looked like, surely a much younger man than I had imagined behind all of the beautifully written and thoroughly immersive articles that he was so generous to give our community. I only exchanged a few emails with him, but they left a permanent impression. I had simply wanted to thank him for the eye candy that is Yuhindo, and part of his response was to ask where my interests lied. At the time I had recently made my first "major" acquisition, a great tsuba by a big name, and his insight on my personal milestone always stuck with me. It was to point out how truly lucky we are to be able to acquire such things in our hobby of choice. That if you were into paintings, sculpture etc. you'd need millions for a comparable piece. I had never thought of it that way, and it instantly gave me a greater appreciation for these items we look after. His last bit of advice to me was to only buy something if it was as good or better than everything else in my collection. As a young, inexperienced buyer who was prone to instant gratification, I took it to heart. Every tsuba that's proudly on display in my home, or chawan I sip tea from was acquired with his words weaving through my internal monologue. I'm sad that I'll never be able to tell him how formative they were for me. So sorry to those who knew and loved him. Legends never die, and I know everyone here will help keep his alive.

Took a few of the habaki: More bright, direct light pic of blade:

紀州住氏廣 - Kishu ju Ujihiro

Generally I refrain from commenting openly on someone's proffered sales, Will. It opens up a can of worms and I do not think it is fair on the seller. Am I in the minority?

Repair is always easier, and better than replace.

There is another hidden kanji 関 (Seki) before 住 (ju).

Steve, I think whomever told you the wrap was wrong, likely was thinking of the flat-wrap style normally seen on kaigunto. There are names for the various styles, which I don't know, but the majority of navy wrap is the flat style like this: Yours is folded, but I've seen plenty of kaigunto with the folded style as well. There was plenty of variation in every official gunto type. As to your saya, I would think a repair would be easier than finding another saya to fit your blade. Guys have done it, but it's a real hit-and-miss random experience, as each set of fittings were custom shaped to each blade. All blades varied in every dimension. Want to show us the split you are concerned about? @Dave R has quite a bit of experience with such things.

Hello Geoff, As Chris pointed out it’s a fake...100%...all of it is fake ! Regards, Paul..

Dear all, Sharing some images of a latest addition to my collection, just to share some excitement. I believe it is still in an excellent state best regards Erwin

I never met or communicated with Darcy but I read almost everything he wrote concerning nihonto and so this feels like the passing of a friend and mentor. My sincerest condolences to all who knew him.

The kin'in (the golden seal is not exactly a kaō) is consistent with Seiryuken Eiju.

There are a LOT of Eiju tsuba on the forum, just do a search for that name. Here's an example.

I thought it would be a good idea to post a few old pictures of mine where I highlighted the considerable differences between Type 95 swords. The original thread is gone and buried somewhere and this seems a natural place to re-post, since it is an educational thread intended to assist newer members of the community. Small differences may appear to a novice to be a tell-tale sign of a 'fake', but it is important to consider the sword as an overall before passing any judgement. There may be several 'issues' with a sword, but that sword will still be entirely genuine. There may be no obvious or apparent issues, but the sword may be a well made reproduction and aged into a fake. There is an overall 'feeling' to swords that I have previously mentioned which I can't really explain. It is just something that you get with experience and exposure to a large number of swords. The components of 95s were made by several subcontractors, so expect there to be differences there. Quality varies throughout production and subcontractor, so expect differences there (none more so than Iijima). Materials used in construction changed, so expect differences there. I'm sure was turn-over of workers and some degree of the process was manual, so expect differences there. Stamps changed so expect differences there (there are several distinctly different Kokura 'cannonball' stamps). Colours/shades used in paint changed, so expect differences there. Swords were refurbished, so expect changes there. My point being that there is no perfect checklist to identify a fake so you must be very aware of that before you start to label a sword, especially when it is a sale that a stray comment could derail. Sword components from various subcontractors are not universally interchangeable and it absolutely is possible to tell when a sword used mismatched components. Stegel often points this out, not just because of his extensive records, but because of his extensive experience. I can pick Polish replicas because of experience, not because of some inherent design flaw. The attached photos should be a reasonable demonstration of some of these differences. The main observations I'd like to point out are; Bohi depth, width and termination vary considerably Blade serial numbers vary considerably in font, uniformity, depth and location Quality of the cast tsuka varies considerably, as does the design Colours vary considerably Kissaki vary in size, definition and pitch We could get into greater detail, but that would result in a huge post and that is not the intent. This is also not intended to be a chastisement or to discourage attempts at authentication, but an encouragement to be thoughtful in appraisal and consider a sword as a whole, while keeping in mind the many nuances of the Type 95.

Thanks John 😊 Here are a few more pics

If you introduce one piece of substantial contrary data ( you have ) the thesis statement / hypothesis is considered invalid and a new one must be created. With respect, 10 then 20 then 30 is not needed. That's just moving the goal post for the purpose of academic fallacy. Great research and question everything

Hello to everyone on this thread. I am Darcy's younger brother and on behalf of our family thank you all for all of your comments about my brother. This is a tough time for our family especially after dealing with the recent loss of our father and comments such as these help us heal. With respect to preserving his nihonto web content, there is nothing that we would like more than to have his content preserved and remain available for those that share his passion. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like more information. Regards, -joel

Dear NMB specialist’s, I need to tab into your experience and knowledge in regard to the use of “Grass script” in Mei, and the use of personal seals (Kao) on Tsuba. I have just bought the pictured Tsuba as a small study project. It came without any background information except measurements. Tsuba measurements: 74 mm x 71 mm x 4 mm (seppadai) x 3 mm (rim) Mei: Beautiful cursive Sosho script (“Grass script”) and a golden “inlaid” or painted seal. I have made a few comparisons to other and identical Mei, and believe that the artist could be - Seiryuken Eiju which is the art name of Tetsugendo Toryuken, Osaka, Kyoto and Edo between 1775 - 1800, (student and adopted son of Okamoto Harukuni, master craftsman and founder of the Tetsugendo School). But - that is just my initial hunch as I can’t read Sosho script 🤔 Furthermore I’m equally puzzled by the personal seal as the school probably had many craftsmen working beside each other. So I need your specialist knowledge in regard to: Is the maker Seiryuken Eiju? Can you decipher the seal? Is the Tsuba made for either a Wakizashi or a Katana? Your general comments on design and craftsmanship In the hope you can help 🤓 Best regards Soren

Hello, A little while ago I bought a somewhat cheap digital microscope to see if it would add any value to my study of swords and fittings. So far, I like what I have been able to get from it. Lightning remains the biggest challenge, as too direct or strong washes out the images, but off set weak light imparts a sepia tone to the pictures looking at swords. Still a work in progress. I started with some tsuba as it's a smaller item. What came out really well was the fine chisel work on a kao; you can see the marking and scalloping movement used by the metalsmith to make the fine curves: I took some pictures of a tanto I have. It's hard as you have to pick a certain feature to hone in on, due to the depth of activity in blades. Here I was looking nie and hamon sungashi.

Here’s my try at what’s suspicious (still learning 98s): The obvious newly and poorly wrapped handle. The shape of the handle. The very noticeable pattern on the blade makes it likely a Chinese manufacture. The habaki is disgusting. The scabbard throat is very poor. Probably a franken-sword made with authentic as well as fake parts.

A lot of these papers are the old 'green papers' so they're next to worthless to start. And since they've not repapered, it means they will not repaper to anything noteable.

What a great sword for a good price, Stefan. I have also a blade made by Takahashi Yoshimune and I very happy with it. Good luck with the sale.

poor Fake.

Thanks Tony! I have some shots of that blade from 2019, but your pics are much better. Hey, is that a black saya? Not very often we see a Mantetsu in a black saya.

Hi Bruce as you correctly noticed, an unknown shop logo. Thought would add a better and more detailled picture of this for archive in case you need/want it best regards Erwin

I wonder if the kao has some of the character of the kanji mei - just a thought

And the last pictures..

Although “祥” alone can also be read as Aki or Naga for example, in combination with “正” however, I come always up with Yoshimasa or Shousei. Not listed in Koop/Inada, by the way…..

Komonjo's eBay store is the quintessential "caveat emptor" of the site. He runs the range from actual papered legitimate blades to Chinese fakery. Figuring out what you're getting from him can be a very risky proposition. The easiest tell is "if its too good to be true, it almost certainly is." However, I wouldn't tempt fate. I've done it and come out relatively okay, but for every success, there's many more who are not so lucky. I've spoken with him before, unlike other sellers, he does take returns which is unusual amongst eBay sellers. Though, please do not take that as an endorsement for rolling the dice on eBay. You're better off going with confirmed dealers and sellers and reputable folk from here.

My badly treated mantetsu for you @Bruce Pennington Sadly someone's been chopping at things with it.

Just outstanding, i think you have opened a new way of showing detail. Great shots!

Thanks Bob. Darcy, Ted and you remain in my mind as the three musketeers. 🙏🙏

Hi Brad, Not much I or anyone else can tell you about your unsigned wakizashi just from pictures; someone knowledgeable and honest will need to see it in hand . Meantime, here is a care and handling brochure you should read. https://nbthk-ab2.org/sword-characteristics/ Grey

Thank you Robert I believe you have eloquently expressed the experiences and very deep feelings of many here. Darcy was a one off and his memory will be long cherished and his contribution appreciated for very many years to come. I spoke to him on a phone call from Canada early in February. As always he was incredibly helpful and we shared some ideas and memories. We were talking about him coming to the UK to look at some pieces. I so regret that we hadn't had the opportunity to do it sooner.

Steve, based on pics 27 Dec kaigunto, nothing appears "wrong" with the tsuka and ito wrapping. Disregard criticism.

The groove down the blade that you are referring to is called the bohi. Or fuller. Or blood groove. I believe hi is the cutting edge. If you have a 95 you'd like to buy then post it in on the forum and we will happily give you advice around how much it would be worth, how original it is, issues etc.

Hi Jean, I’d like to respond to your recent post addressed to me. But first, I’d like to say thanks for engaging in the discussion. Without that back and forth, and inputs from everyone else, I might never have read all these different articles or gathered that information. I have learned a ton and am very grateful for it. I hope everyone else has enjoyed this thread as well. 20 hours ago, ROKUJURO said: “at the beginning of this thread, I have explained that cast iron was a part of the normal output of a TATARA process. So this material was always available, even in pre-EDO times.” That is true, but this is the brittle type of cast iron, so I think all of us would agree that this would not be suited for making tsuba. It’s the use of the softer, less brittle, decarburized cast-iron that would make more sense for the production of tsuba. And again, that was only produced in Japan, as of 1691. And to be fair Jean, you actually started off by presenting this view: On 1/27/2022 at 9:49 AM, ROKUJURO said: “it was not possible to produce cast iron in Japan. But it may have been possible elsewhere, perhaps in China.” The details about the Tatara producing some cast-iron were added in one of your later posts. With regards to this statement: 20 hours ago, ROKUJURO said: “I also explained how difficult and complex the iron casting process was, and how ineffective it would have been in the production of large item numbers.” This one still comes across as a matter of opinion: Lissenden had the opposite point of view and suggested it would be quite reasonable to make many wax forms from an original, carved wooden master. Lissenden also justified the use of this technique when trying to create tsuba with elaborate piercings or sukashi like many of the Nanban tsuba (which would be very similar to the NTHK papered "birds tsuba" posted earlier). The time saved in not having to chisel or drill repeatedly through a steel plate by hand, would outweigh the labour needed to make one wood mold, many wax forms and their surrounding matrixes (the hard casing that goes around the wax form). I could see your statement making sense for producing a tsuba with a solid plate because the solid plate would probably be faster to make using hand forging techniques. But for repeated production of something more elaborate, like Lissenden explained, casting would seem to make the most sense. With regards to this statement: 20 hours ago, ROKUJURO said: “…papered EDO period cast iron (papered as 'cast') TSUBA” Unfortunately, I suspect you might always be left wanting for that… but I’d love to see one too. Here’s a question to consider: What reason would any group that papers tsuba, need to use the words “cast-iron”, when “iron” would be perfectly sufficient to describe what the tsuba is made of? Between cast and forged iron, we’re really only talking about a few percentage points difference in the Carbon content mixed in with the iron, so both of them are simply varying mixes of roughly 95-99% Iron, with the remainder being mostly Carbon and a few other elements. A question for anyone reading this post: Is there a particular way that the NBTHK or NTHK distinguishes between different types of steel that may have been used in the making of swords (other than Nanban steel)? And do they even call it “steel”, or just simply “iron”? Hopefully some "sword people" might know that. In any case Jean, it seems perfectly reasonable for you to hold out for more examples, and I respect your choice. And lastly, to address the “mass-production” aspect: I suppose I look at it as: anything that is “reproducible” in quantity, whether that is 5 at a time or 100 at a time, doesn’t really matter at all I suppose, as long as you can repeat it. That's where Lissenden's "carved wood form" Jean, I suspect you’re probably right in thinking that one-off pieces (and probably small batch productions) may have been the norm, rather than cranking them out like an assembly line. I think there’s no doubt that the real “mass” production hit its stride in the Meiji period. In any case, the only real pursuit for me was whether or not the Japanese were making cast-iron tsuba during the Edo period. And now that seems to be likely. I’d like to end off by bringing back a quote from the first page of this thread. At the time, I found it to be an amazing quote from Markus Sesko, but I didn’t know enough to be able to put it in proper context. I really wasn’t ready to wrap my head around such an early date for cast-iron tsuba: On 1/26/2022 at 5:08 AM, JohnTo said: “Markus Sesko has a small reference to cast iron tsuba in his book the Japanese toso-kinko Schools (p 129) which states that the kinko artist Daininchi Fucho (active around Horeki, 1751-1764) learned his skills ‘from Ugai Gorozaemon who belonged to an Osaka-based family of kettle casters who produced cast-iron tsuba as a sideline.’ Now that mid-1700 timeframe makes so much more sense…

Roger, you're spot on. Hand working after casting makes it more difficult since you'll see evidence of both. By the way, this was something that was pointed out by Lissenden, in his analysis of casting in Nanban tsuba. He found that there was quite a varying degree of hand working of the cast tsuba he analyzed. Lissenden also made the assertion that if the tsuba has some hallmarks of being cast, then one must assume that it was initially cast. It would be extremely difficult to explain the presence of some of those features if it was exclusively hand forged. However some features, taken on their own could potentially be explained by other factors, which is why it really helps to have either: multiple signs of casting, or at least one casting feature that wouldn't make any sense being there if it was hand forged. An additional issue is relying on digital images alone. These will vary in picture quality, the angles presented, as well as light and colour saturation of the image. Playing around with these can really hide some of the cast-features. So on a side note... watch out for sellers with really dark images. Download/save the images, then change the brightness and contrast of the image so you can get a better look. It's always helpful to have angled views where you can see inside the hitsu and sukashi, as well as get a good look at the outer face of the mimi. Another issue is the degree of pitting and rusting on the tsuba... that can make things so muddy that you can't be certain of anything. In those cases, the only way I've been comfortable calling it cast, is when I have another example of an identically patterned tsuba that is less corroded.

Hi Justin, Also, get a proper stand. You don't have to go balls-deep like EastCoast did in the post I'm linking, but don't go cheap on the display stand either. Keep it oiled. If it's humid where you live, oil more than not. If you take it out to look at it, don't talk as saliva will affect the blade--absolutely no touchy with fingers! Use a cloth to support the blade incase you want to use two hands. You can barehand it on the nakago ONLY.

I heard about this and my immediate instinct was to come here which I know he always had a place, I know he was loved by many here, and with good reason. Darcy was no doubt a special guy with a vast amount of Knowledge, and he did contribute so much to the sword community. My deepest condolences to his loved ones and everyone who knew him!!! The funniest and most recent conversation I remember having with him was how he managed to fly where he wanted in 1st class without ever actually paying for it. Darcy was someone where if he put his mind and energy to it he could solve virtually anything. He will be missed, Rest In Peace my fellow Canadian and Nihonto brother.

Some lots I had my eyes on: Lot 636: Nice Gendai by Hokke Saburo Nobufusa went for $3000ish. Lot 664: Kotani Yasunori in beat up mounts, rusted Nakago, blade looked like it needed a polish. Went for a bargain at $1600 Lot 668: Good Type 98 with blade by Ikkansai Kunimori. Decent example, the one Neil sold recently was nicer. Can't recall price. Lot 682: Early Mei of Chounsai Emura in premium early mounts with dual Mon on Menuki. Blade looked pretty bad. Went pretty high considering a polish was needed and saya had damage. Lot 694: Good Kai Gunto with what looked like a blade signed by Shibata Ka, hard to tell from photos. Not sure what it went for.

It looks like someone has taken a buffing wheel to this blade and utterly destroyed its geometry. They even went to the added step of destroying the tsuba by removing all the patina. This is very unfortunate. I am not a good judge of mei, but if there's enough 'meat' on the blade left, it MIGHT be salvageable by a good togishi? But that would be a judgement call of the togishi. This blade looks to have significant age due to the patination of the nakago and how deeply the habaki/tsuba has bit into the nakago over time - signs of an older blade usually. As well as the mekugi-ana having an irregular shape, which points to it being drifted instead of drilled. This also points to it being an older blade. My guess is that this is a Kanei or Kanbun era blade, possibly a little earlier. The condition is poor, but there's enough left that it could be theoretically saved. That's just my opinion based on pictures though. Only a togishi could properly make that judgement.

This is very distressing news. I don't know how he is regarded in the diplomatic world, but Guido is well known and widely respected in this little sword world we inhabit, and has the most delightful sense of humor. We wish him a complete recovery. Les

Taisho Tachi : Mei: (Omote) Teishitsugiin Gassan Sadakazu kin saku (Ura) Taisho 4th year, 5th month on a lucky day (May 1915) Sugata: shinogi- zukuri Nagasa: 71 cm Sori: 2,6 cm Hada: itame Hamon: saka- choji This tachi was made in celebrating the coronation of Empore Taisho on a lucky day of May in 1915. The smith appears to have challenged Bizen-den by this tachi. Koshrae: Hoso-dachi-ken-koshirae that has gold-hiramaki-e saya with shell inlays of ho- birds, kiku-mon (Chrysanthemum) crests and metal fittings with kiri-mon (Pawlonia). The kiku-mon and the kiri-mon was exclusively used by the Imperial Household. The mythical ho-bird (Phoenix) only appears in the Pawlonia wood during the coronation of a new Emperor and, as a result, was said to impart good fortune on that reign. The saya was made by Akatsuka Jitoku (1871 – 1936) a member of the Imperial Art Academy. It is said that this tachi was presented to Kaiser Wilhelm II by the Crown Prince Hirohito during his Europe visit in the Netherlands on Jun 1921. The history of the sword has to be studied. A similar tachi was presented to the British Royal family in 1915 in celebrating the coronation of Emperror Taisho. Jitoko Akatsuka Birth: 1871 Death: 1936 Famous gold lacquer artist. Many of his works are on display in museums in metropolitan Tokyo and other areas of Japan. Also known as "Heizaemon Akatsuka." He is famous for his lacquerware the "maki-e" technique, as well as some oil paintings. His work as exhibited in Paris in 1929. He was a member of the "Teikoku Geijutsu-in (Imperial Art Academy)."

Ted, I'm in disbelief. Darcy's website is the stuff of legends, certainly of a man dedicated in the extremis to Nihonto. His untimely passing should be mourned as long as we all here are alive - and then some. My sincerest condolences to his family. My heart is still beating fast at the shock of reading this dreadful news. Barry Thomas.