Today is the second anniversary of George’s passing.
I want to share these photos with you. They were taken casually as we talked on my visits to Santa Fe. I never thought they’d be part of an ode to George, but they are.
I knew George for 76 years. We were in Abraham Lincoln High School in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. We were both fortunate enough to study graphic design with the great teacher Leon Friend.
George graduated and became an art director, designer, artist, photographer, and filmmaker. He was damn good at all of them.
In 1979 he decided to do children’s books. At last count he had done well over 100 of them. He conceived them, wrote them, photographed them, and designed them.
He was married to Helga von Sydow and had three children, plus three children from his first marriage. I used to kid him that he didn’t have a family, he had a dynasty. There were grandchildren, great grandchildren, countless nieces and nephews, cousins, plus god knows what else. He was extremely proud and involved with his family and his Mexican heritage.
His pride and love also extended to everyone he came in contact with. These kind of memories always seem exaggerated, but George really was the most generous, gentle, caring, compassionate person I’ve ever known.
This memorial collection is not just for his family, but for anyone who ever met him.
We all miss you George.
