My friend Marc

One of my oldest friends just passed away.
I had been told recently that he was suffering from a debilitating affliction but his demise a few days ago took me entirely by surprise.
I had talked to him about two weeks earlier and he sounded ebullient and optimistic.
His sudden departure was totally unexpected and greatly shocked me.

Even though his passing deeply saddens me, I am glad that he didn’t linger on.
He passed away very quickly and as far as I know without suffering too much; an ideal curtain call that many people wish for.

I met my friend and his wife a long time ago, probably around 1964, shortly after my arrival in San Francisco.
He was then a struggling but very talented young designer and we clicked right away.
We went on picnics, sailing parties and bike rides together.
He also designed the T-shirts and the posters that I used to promote a radio program that I was then hosting.

When I met him, he was in his Buddhist phase, a thing that was foreign to me and also deeply worried his Norman catholic mother.
But the Buddhist interlude passed and my friend regained his bearings.
A first child was born. I became the godfather of this cute little girl and I carried her in my arms when she was baptized.

Unfortunately, our paths parted fairly early when my friend decided to move back to France, and later to New York City.
In the Big Apple he thrived and became the CEO and motivational speaker of a very successful think tank called Emotional Branding LLC.

After this, I saw him only occasionally for he was a very busy person travelling far and wide.
Luckily I saw my godchild more frequently since she worked (with her father) and lived in Los Angeles.

Friends are a rare gift, and you should hold them dear because as you will soon discover, our time on the planet is frighteningly ephemeral.

I will miss my friend, but through the miracle of photography I still can him today as I saw him 50 years ago.
Young, vibrant and fun.

Rest in peace dear Marc.

Alain

PS: Although the pictures that you see on this blog appear sometimes small, you can visualize them full-size by double-clicking on a particular image.