Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
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The 10th Art Knife Invitational was held on Saturday, October 29th, 2005 at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina.
My friend and associate Adam picked me up at 9:45 a.m. I chose my clothing carefully for this show, and it is worth mentioning, because of the comments that it brought from makers and fellow collectors. It is a Joseph Abboud navy chalkstripe 3-button suit in medium weight flannel, white custom made shirt, purple floral necktie, Monticristi Panama hat, and Allen Edmonds black/white spectator shoes. Many said that I looked like a gangster from the '30's. Cool.
The makers invited to attend the show are: Ray and Ron Appleton, Van Barnett, Dr. Fred Carter, Dellana, Kaj Embretsen, Jim Ence, H.H. Frank, Larry Fuegen, Tim Hancock, Tim Herman, Steve Hoel, S.R. Johnson, Dietmar Kressler, Steven Rapp, Pierre Reverdy, Stephen Schwarzer, John W. Smith, Jurgen Steinau, C. Gray Taylor, Dwight Towell, Michael Walker, Buster Warenski (In Memoriam), and Yoshindo Yoshihara.
Well known collectors/buyers that I saw in attendance were Bud Angelo, Stan Chan, Maj. Louis Chow, Dr. David Darom, Dave Ellis, Don Guild, Josh Lee, Bob Neal, Paul Schindler, and Ed Wormser, just to name a few off the top.
So, we valet the car, and walk to the show room, which is gently curved, and offers a panoramic view of the San Diego Harbor. It was a beautiful, sunny day, blue skies, and lots of activities to look at on the water, if people watching is your thing.
We checked in, and got our show catalogs, and bid slips. The way it works is sort of like a raffle. You drop an Intent to Purchase slip for the knife that you want into a box with the knife's name on it. Viewing knives is from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. There is only one slip per knife per collector. Each person in attendance that drops a slip has the same chances (theoretically) to get a knife, as anybody else. There are also open bid knives for sale. The maker starts at a particular price, and you can bid up in $100.00 increments. This show is not for neophyte collector's, nor is it particularly designed for those on a tight budget. Without mentioning specific prices, they are lower than you would think, higher than you would hope, and not as high as you might expect.
There were many makers that I did not get a chance to chat with, and did not really look at the knives that they had to offer. It is hard for me to comment on them. or their work, without being phony, so I will not attempt this. The knives were on burgundy tablecloths along the windows. The room was spacious, had an open bar, and food was served all day, good food, too, like roast beef, and pasta, fruit salad... The makers were arranged alphabetically, starting with the Appletons, and ending with Yoshindo Yoshihara.
I started with Yoshihara-san. He had some very nice knives, 3 hana Kogatana, or flower cutting knives that look like kiridashi, with the body of the blades made from 100 year old steel, two large Kogatana, or Kozuka, small accessory knives, and two large tanto, one moro-ha, or double edged. I liked the moro-ha tanto very much, but it is not in my preferred style of shinogi zukuri.
Yoshindo Yoshihara is the author of 3 books, one on the way, along with Leon and Hiroko Kapp, including the seminal tome The Craft of the Japanese Sword, a book that certainly changed the way the educated western world looks at Japanese swords. He is also the current head of the Yoshihara school of sword making, and an Intangible Cultural Property of Tokyo, sort of like a National Living Treasure. In addition, Yoshindo's son, Yoshikazu, is the youngest smith in Japan to ever reach Mukansa level(above competition)
In other words, Yoshihara-san is a very important fellow in Japan. This is the 4th time that I have met him, and I spent most of my first hour at the show chatting with Yoshindo and Leon Kapp. Yoshindo-san signed my copy of Modern Japanese Swords, and used his "stamp" over the signature. This was very unexpected. I gave some background on Yoshindo-san for all of you, in case you were unfamiliar with him.
Buster Warenski was a treasure, and now he is gone. Phil Lobred, the AKI organizer, and Buster were close friends for over 30 years. Julie Warenski represented for Buster, and had two knives that I looked at closely, the famous King Tut replica dagger, in solid gold, and "Fire and Ice", a knife with a rutilated quartz handle, 28 oz of 18k gold, 22 rubies totaling 4.25 karats and 75 diamonds totaling 7 karats, and a whole heap of engraving. Buster was a truly inspired maker, one of the greatest of the last century. He would have been with the way that he was represented at this show.
Michael Walker's knives were without a doubt, the most sought after of the show. He had one of two leverlocks that he has ever made, a D lock, and an open bid Bladelock with a zipper blade, which is a combination of an anodized titanium spine, EDM'd with a stainless damascus blade. I dropped bid slips on the leverlock and the D lock. I did not get drawn for either of these knives.
Jurgen Steinau was conspicuously absent. This sucks big eggs. Each empty table in a room like this is that much less of a reason for all involved to fly in from all over the world. I don't know why he "called in sick", but considering that the AKI is only held every two years, you would hope that all makers INVITED to attend, do so.
John W. Smith is a maker who I have two pieces from, in my formal collection. These are working knives, which John makes very well. The knives he had a the show were art knives. Worked pearl, file worked everything, engraving and gold, all folding knives. Beautiful, beautiful work, but smaller. The vast majority were gent's knives, with blades 3" or smaller. I only like folding knives in the 3" or larger catergory, and said as much. John had no problem selling his knives.
Steve Schwarzer introduced a series of knives called the "faces" series. He used his own facial profile as the main element in these 4 knives, the first time to his knowledge that an actual human face has been used in a mosaic damascus pattern. These were all fairly large liner locks with fossil ivory handle scales. Steven also had a knife built in the tradition of, and in homage to, the late, great Jim Schmidt. I spent some time chatting with Steve about his bowling ball cannon.
Pierre Reverdy is a very, very nice and artistic minded fellow who is not very well known in the United States. His knives were in a featured them of fantasy, with names like Dragon's Tale and Wild Boar's Dream. All knives were in a type of mosaic damascus that Pierre calls Poetic Damascus, because there are pictures in the steel that tell a story. Pierre has been nominated by the French Minister of Culture as a Master of Art. The workmanship and quality of Pierre's knives are well executed. I mentioned Joss to Pierre and he had expressed hope in meeting him someday.
Steven Rapp is very well known for his San Francisco era knives, and the gold quartz piece that he had was one of the belles of the ball. Gold quartz costs upwards of $1,000 an ounce, and when the knifemaker sets it into a mosaic handle, about half of it is lost. Gold quartz is actual quartz crystal with gold deposits in it, making for a rare and beautiful material. Julie Warenski does most, if not all, of Steve's engraving. Absolutely gorgeous knives.
Robert (Bob) W. Loveless is arguably the most famous knifemaker in the world. Bob had 3 drop point hunters, and 3 semi skinners. The knives looked superlative, and felt perfect. I put intent to purchase slips on all of them. I did not get any of them. Bob called me over to his chair and motioned to me to get closer to him, and whispered that he "liked the fact that there was somebody in the room that knew how to dress with style".
Well, now you could knock me over with a feather, because Bob can be very, shall we say, caustic, sometimes. I appreciated the complement, and spent about 45 minutes chatting with Bob inside the show, and outside smoking some cigarettes. I told him that the first, second and third factory knives that I purchased as an adult in 1984 were the Gerber Guardian, Guardian I and Guardian II, he told me the entire history of his association with Gerber, the knife making company. It was a great, great story, and I feel privileged that shared the time with me.
Wolfgang Loerchner had two knives for the raffle, and one for open bid. The open bid knife had been presented to me by a few people as being on the cover of the current issue of Knives Illustrated, but apparently that was not the case. At any rate, the knife must have been designed specifically for the AKI. The thing that struck me about Wolfe, who is quite tall, is that he looks to me, quite a bit like Gary Shaw, a noted knife dealer, who recently passed away. Sort of a striking observation, one that I was surprised by. I dropped bid slips on both of Wolfe's knives, but did not win. The knives are of amazing construction, and mostly, if not completely, shaped by hand, with files. The fit and finish are absolutely of the highest caliber. Two of the three knives were designed exclusively for the AKI.
Dietmar Kressler makes some really nice knives. The ones that I really liked were out of my price range. He had a Wilderness Integral, a 6" bladed INTEGRAL Subhilt, and a New York Special that had an integral collar. These knives were so crisp and clean that they LOOKED easy, but they are a real serious pain to make. I caught up with Dietmar on the patio, enjoying an Arturo Fuente Opus X cigar, and we chatted about shoes, cigars, knives and knife collectors' calling for an hour on the telephone, in the middle of the day, effectively blowing the concentration level, and how it is an often unavoidable, but costly practice that there is not a lot of discussion about (guilty!)
S.R. Johnson had some exceptionally fine knives, a big fighter, Loveless style Wilderness Fighter, and a heavy duty, clip pointed Loveless-style utility knife with stag scales that I REALLY wanted. I did not get it. That one hurt a little bit.
Got a chance to chat with Steve Hoel again for a short while. Perfectly executed small gents knives in tiger-eye, and obsidian, and some larger fixed blades with dinosaur inlays, if memory serves. Steve is a master folder maker with names such as Osborne and Kious being contemporaries, except Steve has been making them longer, going full-time in 1979.
Tim Herman had a spear point Sliver with Devin Thomas "fireball" damascus that I almost, but not quite pulled the trigger on. I love the work, and workmanship. I love the lines, and shape, and flow. I just do not love the price. I did however, really enjoy chatting with Tim, about tattoos and artistic influences and synthetic opals and color engraving. Tim has some serious style of his own, sporting purple tinged glasses, and a purple titanium captive ball hoop earring. All of Tim's knives showed the same degree of clean design, and some featured a stone from Russia, called seraphanite, which is like charolite, except it has a fan pattern to it, and is forest green.
Tim Hancock-what can I say, but WOW. The man is having a good year! The Dog Bone Dagger that Tim had was a personal favorite. It is forged from his new "wild fire" damascus, with a sculpted damascus guard. It was probably one of my favorite knives from the show. Tim also had a stag hunter, a gent's bowie, and a big, massive Bowie called Desperado. I have spoken with Tim before, briefly, but at the AKI, I had the chance to talk with him for more than 30 minutes. Each knife was better than the next. I almost dropped a bid slip for the stag hunter, it was really, really nice, but I will probably commission a knife from Tim somewhere on down the line. Keep your eyes on Tim in 2006, this wild fire damascus is some of the best looking metal that I have seen.
Larry Fuegen had another one of my favorite knives of the show, a Classic Art Dagger, relief carved Mammoth Ivory, so skillfully done, that it looked like plastic, and that is not an insult. 9 1/2" tight ladder pattern damascus blade with a shimmer like oil on water. Larry also had a clip point damascus hunter with mammoth ivory handles and a nickle silver frame. I would have dropped on the damascus hunter, BUT, I hedged my bets against not getting drawn for anything, and subsequently getting very bummed out, by asking Larry to bring the two knives that I had commissioned 19 months ago to the AKI, and delivering them to me, after the business part of the show was over. The dagger he made me is exceptional, but the damascus hunter that he made me is sublime. Thanks again, Larry and Linda (appreciate the cookies)!
Jim Ence had a Loveless-style Big Bear that really caught my eye. I waffled on dropping for it, but in the end, had to walk past.
Kaj Embretsen had some really nice folders, but not in my price range, and besides, I am still pissed off at him for getting Matt Diskin involved in bartender knives/handmade corkscrews. IMOPHO, a complete and total waste of time. I know, I know, nobody put a gun to Matt's head, but, sheesh!
Dellana/Van Barnett apparently had a luggage mix up with the airlines, and did not have their knives at the show. What they did do was have pictures/sketches, and this is what they presented. While not ideal, this is certainly a novel, and creative way to solve the problem. I salute their inginuity.
Dr. Fred Carter had an all steel dagger, 3 folding knives similar to the type featured in D. David Darom's book on Folding Knives, and a miniature bowie. All very tasteful, but not my speed. Very nice gentleman.
Lastly, but not leastly, the Appleton family. 1 multalock, 1 infinity lock and one Argentine Pass, specially created for the AKI. If the Walker knives were the most sought after, I think that Loveless and Appleton would be tied at second most desired. All simply, and resolutely out of my price range. Fantastic workmanship as would be expected.
By my estimation, 90% + of the knives represented sold. This is a show where makers get immediate feedback from the customer as to how well liked their work is. That in and of itself, is an excellent thing.
Well, that was the show, and it was a good one. Thanks to Phil and Judy Lobred for putting on a great show, Larry Fuegen for making sure that I did not go home empty handed, Yoshindo Yoshihara for allowing myself and Adam to join him at his table for dinner, Steve Rapp for sharing his comraderie, and Robert Loveless, Pierre Reverdy, John W. Smith and Julie Warenski for sharing their time, and thoughts.
My friend and associate Adam picked me up at 9:45 a.m. I chose my clothing carefully for this show, and it is worth mentioning, because of the comments that it brought from makers and fellow collectors. It is a Joseph Abboud navy chalkstripe 3-button suit in medium weight flannel, white custom made shirt, purple floral necktie, Monticristi Panama hat, and Allen Edmonds black/white spectator shoes. Many said that I looked like a gangster from the '30's. Cool.
The makers invited to attend the show are: Ray and Ron Appleton, Van Barnett, Dr. Fred Carter, Dellana, Kaj Embretsen, Jim Ence, H.H. Frank, Larry Fuegen, Tim Hancock, Tim Herman, Steve Hoel, S.R. Johnson, Dietmar Kressler, Steven Rapp, Pierre Reverdy, Stephen Schwarzer, John W. Smith, Jurgen Steinau, C. Gray Taylor, Dwight Towell, Michael Walker, Buster Warenski (In Memoriam), and Yoshindo Yoshihara.
Well known collectors/buyers that I saw in attendance were Bud Angelo, Stan Chan, Maj. Louis Chow, Dr. David Darom, Dave Ellis, Don Guild, Josh Lee, Bob Neal, Paul Schindler, and Ed Wormser, just to name a few off the top.
So, we valet the car, and walk to the show room, which is gently curved, and offers a panoramic view of the San Diego Harbor. It was a beautiful, sunny day, blue skies, and lots of activities to look at on the water, if people watching is your thing.
We checked in, and got our show catalogs, and bid slips. The way it works is sort of like a raffle. You drop an Intent to Purchase slip for the knife that you want into a box with the knife's name on it. Viewing knives is from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. There is only one slip per knife per collector. Each person in attendance that drops a slip has the same chances (theoretically) to get a knife, as anybody else. There are also open bid knives for sale. The maker starts at a particular price, and you can bid up in $100.00 increments. This show is not for neophyte collector's, nor is it particularly designed for those on a tight budget. Without mentioning specific prices, they are lower than you would think, higher than you would hope, and not as high as you might expect.
There were many makers that I did not get a chance to chat with, and did not really look at the knives that they had to offer. It is hard for me to comment on them. or their work, without being phony, so I will not attempt this. The knives were on burgundy tablecloths along the windows. The room was spacious, had an open bar, and food was served all day, good food, too, like roast beef, and pasta, fruit salad... The makers were arranged alphabetically, starting with the Appletons, and ending with Yoshindo Yoshihara.
I started with Yoshihara-san. He had some very nice knives, 3 hana Kogatana, or flower cutting knives that look like kiridashi, with the body of the blades made from 100 year old steel, two large Kogatana, or Kozuka, small accessory knives, and two large tanto, one moro-ha, or double edged. I liked the moro-ha tanto very much, but it is not in my preferred style of shinogi zukuri.
Yoshindo Yoshihara is the author of 3 books, one on the way, along with Leon and Hiroko Kapp, including the seminal tome The Craft of the Japanese Sword, a book that certainly changed the way the educated western world looks at Japanese swords. He is also the current head of the Yoshihara school of sword making, and an Intangible Cultural Property of Tokyo, sort of like a National Living Treasure. In addition, Yoshindo's son, Yoshikazu, is the youngest smith in Japan to ever reach Mukansa level(above competition)
In other words, Yoshihara-san is a very important fellow in Japan. This is the 4th time that I have met him, and I spent most of my first hour at the show chatting with Yoshindo and Leon Kapp. Yoshindo-san signed my copy of Modern Japanese Swords, and used his "stamp" over the signature. This was very unexpected. I gave some background on Yoshindo-san for all of you, in case you were unfamiliar with him.
Buster Warenski was a treasure, and now he is gone. Phil Lobred, the AKI organizer, and Buster were close friends for over 30 years. Julie Warenski represented for Buster, and had two knives that I looked at closely, the famous King Tut replica dagger, in solid gold, and "Fire and Ice", a knife with a rutilated quartz handle, 28 oz of 18k gold, 22 rubies totaling 4.25 karats and 75 diamonds totaling 7 karats, and a whole heap of engraving. Buster was a truly inspired maker, one of the greatest of the last century. He would have been with the way that he was represented at this show.
Michael Walker's knives were without a doubt, the most sought after of the show. He had one of two leverlocks that he has ever made, a D lock, and an open bid Bladelock with a zipper blade, which is a combination of an anodized titanium spine, EDM'd with a stainless damascus blade. I dropped bid slips on the leverlock and the D lock. I did not get drawn for either of these knives.
Jurgen Steinau was conspicuously absent. This sucks big eggs. Each empty table in a room like this is that much less of a reason for all involved to fly in from all over the world. I don't know why he "called in sick", but considering that the AKI is only held every two years, you would hope that all makers INVITED to attend, do so.
John W. Smith is a maker who I have two pieces from, in my formal collection. These are working knives, which John makes very well. The knives he had a the show were art knives. Worked pearl, file worked everything, engraving and gold, all folding knives. Beautiful, beautiful work, but smaller. The vast majority were gent's knives, with blades 3" or smaller. I only like folding knives in the 3" or larger catergory, and said as much. John had no problem selling his knives.
Steve Schwarzer introduced a series of knives called the "faces" series. He used his own facial profile as the main element in these 4 knives, the first time to his knowledge that an actual human face has been used in a mosaic damascus pattern. These were all fairly large liner locks with fossil ivory handle scales. Steven also had a knife built in the tradition of, and in homage to, the late, great Jim Schmidt. I spent some time chatting with Steve about his bowling ball cannon.
Pierre Reverdy is a very, very nice and artistic minded fellow who is not very well known in the United States. His knives were in a featured them of fantasy, with names like Dragon's Tale and Wild Boar's Dream. All knives were in a type of mosaic damascus that Pierre calls Poetic Damascus, because there are pictures in the steel that tell a story. Pierre has been nominated by the French Minister of Culture as a Master of Art. The workmanship and quality of Pierre's knives are well executed. I mentioned Joss to Pierre and he had expressed hope in meeting him someday.
Steven Rapp is very well known for his San Francisco era knives, and the gold quartz piece that he had was one of the belles of the ball. Gold quartz costs upwards of $1,000 an ounce, and when the knifemaker sets it into a mosaic handle, about half of it is lost. Gold quartz is actual quartz crystal with gold deposits in it, making for a rare and beautiful material. Julie Warenski does most, if not all, of Steve's engraving. Absolutely gorgeous knives.
Robert (Bob) W. Loveless is arguably the most famous knifemaker in the world. Bob had 3 drop point hunters, and 3 semi skinners. The knives looked superlative, and felt perfect. I put intent to purchase slips on all of them. I did not get any of them. Bob called me over to his chair and motioned to me to get closer to him, and whispered that he "liked the fact that there was somebody in the room that knew how to dress with style".
Well, now you could knock me over with a feather, because Bob can be very, shall we say, caustic, sometimes. I appreciated the complement, and spent about 45 minutes chatting with Bob inside the show, and outside smoking some cigarettes. I told him that the first, second and third factory knives that I purchased as an adult in 1984 were the Gerber Guardian, Guardian I and Guardian II, he told me the entire history of his association with Gerber, the knife making company. It was a great, great story, and I feel privileged that shared the time with me.
Wolfgang Loerchner had two knives for the raffle, and one for open bid. The open bid knife had been presented to me by a few people as being on the cover of the current issue of Knives Illustrated, but apparently that was not the case. At any rate, the knife must have been designed specifically for the AKI. The thing that struck me about Wolfe, who is quite tall, is that he looks to me, quite a bit like Gary Shaw, a noted knife dealer, who recently passed away. Sort of a striking observation, one that I was surprised by. I dropped bid slips on both of Wolfe's knives, but did not win. The knives are of amazing construction, and mostly, if not completely, shaped by hand, with files. The fit and finish are absolutely of the highest caliber. Two of the three knives were designed exclusively for the AKI.
Dietmar Kressler makes some really nice knives. The ones that I really liked were out of my price range. He had a Wilderness Integral, a 6" bladed INTEGRAL Subhilt, and a New York Special that had an integral collar. These knives were so crisp and clean that they LOOKED easy, but they are a real serious pain to make. I caught up with Dietmar on the patio, enjoying an Arturo Fuente Opus X cigar, and we chatted about shoes, cigars, knives and knife collectors' calling for an hour on the telephone, in the middle of the day, effectively blowing the concentration level, and how it is an often unavoidable, but costly practice that there is not a lot of discussion about (guilty!)
S.R. Johnson had some exceptionally fine knives, a big fighter, Loveless style Wilderness Fighter, and a heavy duty, clip pointed Loveless-style utility knife with stag scales that I REALLY wanted. I did not get it. That one hurt a little bit.
Got a chance to chat with Steve Hoel again for a short while. Perfectly executed small gents knives in tiger-eye, and obsidian, and some larger fixed blades with dinosaur inlays, if memory serves. Steve is a master folder maker with names such as Osborne and Kious being contemporaries, except Steve has been making them longer, going full-time in 1979.
Tim Herman had a spear point Sliver with Devin Thomas "fireball" damascus that I almost, but not quite pulled the trigger on. I love the work, and workmanship. I love the lines, and shape, and flow. I just do not love the price. I did however, really enjoy chatting with Tim, about tattoos and artistic influences and synthetic opals and color engraving. Tim has some serious style of his own, sporting purple tinged glasses, and a purple titanium captive ball hoop earring. All of Tim's knives showed the same degree of clean design, and some featured a stone from Russia, called seraphanite, which is like charolite, except it has a fan pattern to it, and is forest green.
Tim Hancock-what can I say, but WOW. The man is having a good year! The Dog Bone Dagger that Tim had was a personal favorite. It is forged from his new "wild fire" damascus, with a sculpted damascus guard. It was probably one of my favorite knives from the show. Tim also had a stag hunter, a gent's bowie, and a big, massive Bowie called Desperado. I have spoken with Tim before, briefly, but at the AKI, I had the chance to talk with him for more than 30 minutes. Each knife was better than the next. I almost dropped a bid slip for the stag hunter, it was really, really nice, but I will probably commission a knife from Tim somewhere on down the line. Keep your eyes on Tim in 2006, this wild fire damascus is some of the best looking metal that I have seen.
Larry Fuegen had another one of my favorite knives of the show, a Classic Art Dagger, relief carved Mammoth Ivory, so skillfully done, that it looked like plastic, and that is not an insult. 9 1/2" tight ladder pattern damascus blade with a shimmer like oil on water. Larry also had a clip point damascus hunter with mammoth ivory handles and a nickle silver frame. I would have dropped on the damascus hunter, BUT, I hedged my bets against not getting drawn for anything, and subsequently getting very bummed out, by asking Larry to bring the two knives that I had commissioned 19 months ago to the AKI, and delivering them to me, after the business part of the show was over. The dagger he made me is exceptional, but the damascus hunter that he made me is sublime. Thanks again, Larry and Linda (appreciate the cookies)!
Jim Ence had a Loveless-style Big Bear that really caught my eye. I waffled on dropping for it, but in the end, had to walk past.
Kaj Embretsen had some really nice folders, but not in my price range, and besides, I am still pissed off at him for getting Matt Diskin involved in bartender knives/handmade corkscrews. IMOPHO, a complete and total waste of time. I know, I know, nobody put a gun to Matt's head, but, sheesh!
Dellana/Van Barnett apparently had a luggage mix up with the airlines, and did not have their knives at the show. What they did do was have pictures/sketches, and this is what they presented. While not ideal, this is certainly a novel, and creative way to solve the problem. I salute their inginuity.
Dr. Fred Carter had an all steel dagger, 3 folding knives similar to the type featured in D. David Darom's book on Folding Knives, and a miniature bowie. All very tasteful, but not my speed. Very nice gentleman.
Lastly, but not leastly, the Appleton family. 1 multalock, 1 infinity lock and one Argentine Pass, specially created for the AKI. If the Walker knives were the most sought after, I think that Loveless and Appleton would be tied at second most desired. All simply, and resolutely out of my price range. Fantastic workmanship as would be expected.
By my estimation, 90% + of the knives represented sold. This is a show where makers get immediate feedback from the customer as to how well liked their work is. That in and of itself, is an excellent thing.
Well, that was the show, and it was a good one. Thanks to Phil and Judy Lobred for putting on a great show, Larry Fuegen for making sure that I did not go home empty handed, Yoshindo Yoshihara for allowing myself and Adam to join him at his table for dinner, Steve Rapp for sharing his comraderie, and Robert Loveless, Pierre Reverdy, John W. Smith and Julie Warenski for sharing their time, and thoughts.
