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Fondly remembered
Hi Art, Gary & All,
I have a fond memory of Ron too. We met only once, when he was a speaker at the SPSP at Ilford in 1996 (I think it was my 2nd SPSP). He came upon me out on the observing field as I was tinkering with my 'scope during the day and struck up a very enjoyable conversation that lasted for maybe 2 hrs as we enjoyed the sunshine on a cold day. Most of our conversation revolved around the philosophy and simple joys of of visual observing and the importance of simply being happy with what you've got equipment wise and with what you are doing with it.
I had never met or even known of Ron before that and so far as I knew he was just one of the overseas visitors that year. After the conversation he ducked-off and came back about 5 mins later with a complimentary issue of "Amateur Astronomy" magazine. He took a pic of me with my(then) 'scope that I was surprised to find it included in an issue of Amateur Astronomy about 12 months later as part of a write-up of the SPSP (Issue 13 if you're interested p 39 bottom right) (I was in a "beard" phase at the time). Great guy and a great encourager -- uplifting to be around.
A pity he passed away -- you'd walk a very, very long way to meet a nicer and/or more humble guy.
Best,
Les D
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