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Iıd just like to say how very sad I was to read about the death of Bill Walker. I have very fond memories of the first time I met him. It was back in 1987 and I had recently left my job as an art librarian to launch Design and Applied Arts Index. In those days (pre WWW) it came out only in print format. In a push to acquire subscribers in there States, I flew to New York and over a period of two days trekked around all the major academic, public and museum libraries hawking my index like an encyclopaedia salesman. I didnıt make any appointments but just turned up unannounced and asked if I could show my product to the appropriate librarian. The first place I visited was the Met Library. Despite no doubt being extremely busy, Bill Watson not only agreed to see me, but invited me to tea. He was so kind, courteous and generous with his time. Many a person in his position would no doubt have refused to see me and shown me the door, but instead he examined the index there and then, and asked what my plans were for the future. At the end of our meeting, which must have been at least half an hour, he told me that he was sufficiently impressed with the index and would be placing an order. This was the first subscriber to DAAI in the States. Someone later told me the he was a "true Southern gentleman² and he certainly was that. In fact I think he was one of the kindest people I have met. It was his words of encouragement at that first meeting that persuaded me to continue with the enterprise, for which I will be forever grateful. Chris Mees Editor Arts: Search From: ARLIS/NA List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Daniel Starr <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Daniel Starr <[log in to unmask]> Date: Sunday, 26 February 2017 13:33 To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: [ARLIS-L] Bill Walker Iım sad to report that William Bond Walker died on February 22 at the age of 86 after a long illness. He was a founding member of ARLIS/NA and our third President. He was also the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for 1991. Bill began his career as Librarian-Trainee at the Donnell Branch of the New York Public Library in 1955. He was Reference Librarian/Cataloger at the Metropolitan Museum Art from 1957-1959, Chief Librarian of the Brooklyn Museumıs Art Reference Library, 1959-1964, Supervisory Librarian at the National Collection of Fine Arts and National Portrait Gallery Library, Smithsonian Institution,1964-1980, and the Arthur K. Watson Chief Librarian of Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum Art, 1980-1994. He retired in 1994. He received his B.A. at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1953 and his M.L.S from Rutgers University in 1958. He was an avid painter and exhibited widely, including at the Art and Music Library of the University of Rochester and the Carrie Haddad Gallery in Hudson, New York. Bill is survived by his long-time partner John Balkema, Kimball Farms Lifecare Community, 235 Walker St, Lenox, MA 01240. He will be remembered fondly by many whose life he touched, not only for his professional activities and sound advice, but also for his unfailing graciousness. The first words many of us heard from him early in our careers were, ³Hello, my name is Bill Walker,² along with a big smile and a firm handshake. Daniel Starr ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~