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Huge loss for our community, a point of reference for scholars and collectors.

After exchanging emails for years I met you at DTI, besides your great knowledge of the subject and rational approach, I appreciated your being straightforward.

 

RIP Darcy, you leave us a great legacy, we will continue to read your writings, thank you for everything.

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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.  

 

 

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This is absolutely devastating news.  It was only a short time ago that I was emailing Darcy congratulations on his fiftieth birthday and we were reminiscing about when he was the “kid” that most dealers didn’t yet know and were wary of showing their Juyo to.  His knowledge and taste were impeccable and his loss is irreplaceable.  I’m fortunate enough to have gotten my wife’s engagement ring stone from him and his memory will always be cherished in our hearts.

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Good afternoon, this is very sad news and I just found out today.  I have read all these posts and it’s sad and amazing that I knew almost nothing of this part of his life.  Darcy clearly had some good friends in his circle.  It was nice to read the post from Joel, and I hope you, Stu and your families are well - sorry to hear of your father’s passing.  
 

My name is Dave Renaud, and I considered Darce a good friend when we were young.  My brother Chris and I met Darcy in 1981 when we moved to Windsor.  He was funny and ridiculously smart.  He introduced Dungeons and Dragons to us - my bro and I, and Andrew and Deano.  Many nights were spent in the basement playing, and he was Dungeon Master of course.  He would take away “intelligence points” from our characters when we got silly or started acting like idiots.  We also bought dirt bikes when we were 12 to join him on the trails - many great days out in the bush at Renoni’s hills.  Like most kids of the 80s, the mall was a place to go and hang out, and Dragon’s Lair, and Joust were the video games of choice.  We played hockey and football together in high school, and spent some great days on paddle trips on the Pine River, in Michigan - a place he had gone with his Dad.  Those paddle trips for us started in 1989 with 5 or 6 of us in grade 12 or so, and would carry on for years, with numbers of paddlers in the dozens - so much fun.
 

I am truly sorry to hear of Darcy’s passing and I hope some of these stories from his childhood share a bit more of the boy that became an incredible man.

 

DJ

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4 hours ago, Dave Renaud said:

 He was funny and ridiculously smart.  He introduced Dungeons and Dragons to us - my bro and I, and Andrew and Deano.  Many nights were spent in the basement playing, and he was Dungeon Master of course.  He would take away “intelligence points” from our characters when we got silly or started acting like idiots.  We also bought dirt bikes when we were 12 to join

 

All those years knowing DB, and I never knew he was a fellow D&D geek. Hey DM, another roll of the 20 sided dice?

      I was always afraid he'd die on one of those dirt bikes. I always wanted one myself, but that ended one day when uncle's bike had a sudden mechanical issue and flung me head first over a hill into a full grown corn field. By the time I met DB, he'd already had two or three concussions from dirt bikes accidents. Montreal cops just loved him.

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16 hours ago, Dave Renaud said:

Good afternoon, this is very sad news and I just found out today.  I have read all these posts and it’s sad and amazing that I knew almost nothing of this part of his life.  Darcy clearly had some good friends in his circle.  It was nice to read the post from Joel, and I hope you, Stu and your families are well - sorry to hear of your father’s passing.  
 

My name is Dave Renaud, and I considered Darce a good friend when we were young.  My brother Chris and I met Darcy in 1981 when we moved to Windsor.  He was funny and ridiculously smart.  He introduced Dungeons and Dragons to us - my bro and I, and Andrew and Deano.  Many nights were spent in the basement playing, and he was Dungeon Master of course.  He would take away “intelligence points” from our characters when we got silly or started acting like idiots.  We also bought dirt bikes when we were 12 to join him on the trails - many great days out in the bush at Renoni’s hills.  Like most kids of the 80s, the mall was a place to go and hang out, and Dragon’s Lair, and Joust were the video games of choice.  We played hockey and football together in high school, and spent some great days on paddle trips on the Pine River, in Michigan - a place he had gone with his Dad.  Those paddle trips for us started in 1989 with 5 or 6 of us in grade 12 or so, and would carry on for years, with numbers of paddlers in the dozens - so much fun.
 

I am truly sorry to hear of Darcy’s passing and I hope some of these stories from his childhood share a bit more of the boy that became an incredible man.

 

DJ

 

Hey Dave,

 

You and Chris were awesome friends... I was brought to tears with your reference to the Pine river as our father passed a couple of months ago and that trip was so big for us. Darcy and I shared a canoe, him in the back cause he as older and almost twice my size lol. As kids we would navigate the rapids, over fallen trees and occasionally find a case of beer on the river that we would bring to our Dad and his best friend. My Dad was so proud that Darcy and his friends continued that trip. Thank-you for your kind words.

 

-joel

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow very sad to hear i just learned of his passing, my condolences to his family. He was a pillar of the nihonto community and will be missed and always remembered never had a chance to meet him in person but he helped and pointed me in the right direction when i first started collecting. If theres anything i could do to help im here. Prayers go out to his family.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dreadfully sorry to hear about Darcy's passing. A shock and way too young.

I was in touch with him infrequently with all kinds of questions about Nihonto and found him a great teacher who answered every question, no matter how daft, with sincerity and elaboration.

He will be sorely missed.

My condoleances to everyone who was his friend and his family and loved ones.

KM

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I only learnt of Darcy's passing when another member wrote (RIP) after his name in another post. 

My condolences to his family on his untimely passing. I did not know him personally, but corresponded with him a few times when he kindly answered a relative newbie's silly questions without hesitation. His website was one of the reasons for my re-entering the nihonto world after a long hiatus and his posts and the knowledge that he gave out freely was instrumental in my finally buying my first nihonto. 

i hope his legacy lives on with his website and blog. His knowledge, integrity and the personal experiences that he shared were invaluable. A huge loss to the nihonto world.   

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/19/2022 at 9:33 AM, Dave Renaud said:

Good afternoon, this is very sad news and I just found out today.  I have read all these posts and it’s sad and amazing that I knew almost nothing of this part of his life.  Darcy clearly had some good friends in his circle.  It was nice to read the post from Joel, and I hope you, Stu and your families are well - sorry to hear of your father’s passing.  
 

My name is Dave Renaud, and I considered Darce a good friend when we were young.  My brother Chris and I met Darcy in 1981 when we moved to Windsor.  He was funny and ridiculously smart.  He introduced Dungeons and Dragons to us - my bro and I, and Andrew and Deano.  Many nights were spent in the basement playing, and he was Dungeon Master of course.  He would take away “intelligence points” from our characters when we got silly or started acting like idiots.  We also bought dirt bikes when we were 12 to join him on the trails - many great days out in the bush at Renoni’s hills.  Like most kids of the 80s, the mall was a place to go and hang out, and Dragon’s Lair, and Joust were the video games of choice.  We played hockey and football together in high school, and spent some great days on paddle trips on the Pine River, in Michigan - a place he had gone with his Dad.  Those paddle trips for us started in 1989 with 5 or 6 of us in grade 12 or so, and would carry on for years, with numbers of paddlers in the dozens - so much fun.
 

I am truly sorry to hear of Darcy’s passing and I hope some of these stories from his childhood share a bit more of the boy that became an incredible man.

 

DJ

Thank for sharing David, when I read your stories with him I invision it all in my mind. Learned a lot of new things as well about Darcy. Must have been such nostalgic, fun and amazing moments shared with him. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I noticed Yuhindo website was down, and I was thinking, hmm that's not like Darcy.

 

So I came here, very sorry to hear about this.

 

While I never met Darcy in person I had alot of email conversations with him regarding all kinds of Nihonto related stuff.

 

Darcy we miss you!

 

Darcy, Odin makes ready the benches for a feast!

You will be drinking ale from curved horns!

The Valkyries summoned you home!

 

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  • 1 month later...

I am still reeling from this news. 
he showed a few a large few of the very best swords I had ever seen. Still one, may be better than anything I have since seen. He sparked my love of Soshu swords. He answered tirelessly and always- all our questions. He and have emailed thousands of times. He was a mentor to me. And more even, a friend. 
I will miss him. 
im so sorry to his family. Thank you all for sharing your stories. 
 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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