Re: [Leica] Roy Moss

["tm" <leicar8@earthlink.net>]

I went to the 1998 annual gathering of the Leica Historical Society for the
first time. On the Saturday of that event, I failed to encourage anybody to
converse with me most of the day except for an elderly fart, probably in his
80s, who, upon seeing me with my M6 and 24mm f 2.8 Elmarit ASPH, grunted and
said "where is your damn viewfinder?" and turned his head away. Later, alone
outside the banquet room, I was sitting on a bench and noticed a tall
individual walking towards me. He introduced himself to me as Roy Moss. He
sat down and we began a half-hour-long conversation of great interest to me
about Leica matters, film, and many other photography things. He was
impeccably polite, generous, and good-spirited. We agreed to converse after
we had left Denver and had reached our respective homes, and that we did for
the next five years. We exhanged prints and slides, conversed about film,
lenses, camera bodies, etc. I bought one of his 11 x 14 inch b&w prints
which is still on a wall in my house. I recently spoke to him hours before
his wife died, not expecting to hear that upon reaching him. I last spoke
with him several days before his death, at which time we wished each other
the best in life and shooting film. Then I got an e-mail message from his
children stating he was gone. Shock, shock, shock! No, no, no, this can't
be!

Our coast-to-coast (California/South Carolina) friendship was valuable to me
and I hoped it would continue for many years, for I had never met someone
with the degree of Roy's sensibility, kindness, and, again, generosity. The
U.S. military complex produces great individuals as well as jerks, and Roy
truly was truly one of the former. Deep friendships can be difficult to find
and build on this planet, and my success with Roy, I fear, is going to be
very, very hard to replace and duplicate. As I've been attempting to
reconcile my emotions about the termination of our friendship due to his
death, I realized that one of the best friends a photographer can have is
another photographer with whom one can share one's enthusiasm, interest, and
satisfaction in things photographic. There's nothing like it! And the 11 x
14 inch b&w print framed and hanging on a wall near me will be a wonderful
daily reminder of how I valued and how much I was so fortunate to gain from
my friendship with Roy, the photographer. I thanked him by phone in January
for everything he'd done for me and the LHSA and for the many ways in which
he had enriched my life. I'm now sad that I can't do that again in January
2004, though. If I could go to his funeral, I would produce a salute similar
to the one that JFK junior gave to his dad in Washington as his coffin went
by.

Thanks for your thoughts, Seth!

Terry



- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Seth Rosner" (Subject: Re: [Leica] Roy Moss)


> I came back on list simply to share with you some thoughts on the passing
of
> a good friend, wonderful, bright, cantankerous and even sometimes lovable
> General Roy Moss.


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