Remember the titans: On Drew Struzan, David Byrd, Renato Casaro, and more...

I’ve been very slow to comment here on Drew Struzan, who died October 13^th at the age of 78. I heard the news within hours of his passing, and it broke my heart.

Rather than write another simple blog post, I opted to film a little video on my iphone a few weeks ago. But with work at school and other commitments, I didn’t get around to editing it until tonight. I rambled on quite a bit, and had to trim out some parts where my emotions got the better of me.

My deepest sympathies go out to Dylan, Christian, and the rest of Drew’s family, not to mention the legions of friends and fans he had around the world.

To know Drew and Dylan these past few years has been a true honor and privilege, and I’ll forever cherish our time together. Drew had been struggling with health issues for years, and it was with extraordinary courage that his family went public about it last March.

In this video, I also belatedly mention the passing of artist David Edward Byrd, who I’d known since 2007, and considered one of my dearest friends. God, I miss him, and I still can’t quite accept that this world no longer has him in it.

One glaring omission from my video tribute was mention of Italian illustrator Renato Casaro, the poster artist behind such films as Conan the Barbarian and The NeverEnding Story, as well as countless Spaghetti westerns. Casaro died on September 30, following a nearly 70 year career.