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A life well lived:  as a librarian, a leader in ARLIS/NA and in our profession, a mentor to so many of us, an artist, and a beloved colleague and friend.  Bill wore many hats in our profession with the grace and aura of a gentleman and a truly generous human being!  I first met Bill at the Institute for Training in Librarianship held at SUNY, Buffalo, June 1969: “Art Libraries: Their Comprehensive Role in Preserving Contemporary Visual Resources.”  I still recall sitting across the table from him at lunch and being so awed by his presence that it was difficult to even speak!  It was such an exciting event including both our established leaders like Bill and those of us who were so lucky to be there.  Bill’s presentation was on the historic revision and expansion of the “N Classification”—it was amazing to realize that he was responsible for leading this monumental contribution to our professional literature. 

               I also had the good fortune to work with Bill recently when we prepared the tribute to Wolfgang Freitag (Art Documentation, Fall 2013).  Be sure to see the photo in this article of Bill, Wolfgang, and Clive Phillpot at the 1990 ARLIS/NA Conference, p. 18!  It was a challenging project which was made easier by Bill’s thoughtful and informed manner.  In particular, he made many calls to Doris Freitag to collect personal and professional information which was needed to do justice to Wolfgang’s contributions.  Talking to Bill about his oral history interview with Wolfgang was such a joy for me.  This interview was conducted at our 1991 Kansas City Annual Conference.  Before I could discuss this interview with Bill which was recorded on several cassettes, I had to transcribe it listening intensely to Wolfgang’s German accent and to Bill’s charming but very subtle southern drawl.  What an extraordinary experience—sitting in my home office with Bill and Wolfgang listening to them talk about the founding of ARLIS/NA and other memories of our history! 

               Throughout my years in ARLIS/NA, Bill was always an admired and generous colleague.  My thanks to everyone for their heartfelt responses to Bill’s passing, especially to Daniel Starr’s thoughtful announcement. 

               With gratitude and compassion.  B. J. Irvine, Bloomington, Indiana.