Tony and I met years ago when I was painting in a cafe up the street from where he was painting plein-air a Castro Victorian. We chatting and hung out while he worked on that painting, and frequnetly in the 1990s as we both struggled to be productive artists in SF. I knew watching him paint that Victorian, and through the years I knew Tony, that if I ever opened a gallery, he'd be one of the first artists I'd invite to show there. Well, I'm opening the gallery in March 2008 and Tony was the first artist friend I started really searching for online. I found this tribute and my tears today are fresh, learning that he is no longer paiting down the block or somewhere across town, or even down in Mexico. I wish I had had the chance to show Tony how much I respected him and his art. I regret that my gallery has come too late to feature part of Tony's beautiful vision with the world.