I said that I would write a few words to include on the website, dedicated to the cherished memory of Leonard, telling a little of my experience in working for Leonard and he steadily over time, becoming one of my dearest friends.

About two and a half years ago, at the Siskiyou Woodcraft Guild furniture show in Ashland, Oregon, Leonard walked into show hall. He introduced himself and told me that he had just bought a new house at Lake Tahoe and needed some new furniture. That was the extent of our conversation yet four months later I received an email asking if Ellen and I would come down to the lake, look at the new house and discuss furniture possibilities.

I took four different styles of chair with me as well as photographs of various pieces of furniture that I had made and a small-scale model of a dining table that I often use to clarify the finer points of dining table design and structure.

We had a really lovely weekend. It was a holiday for Ellen and I. We even took a sail boat trip with Leonard out onto the lake and later enjoyed a fine dinner in the town.

After that visit I got busy and made Leonard a five foot long oval dining table with a sculptural center visible beneath a smaller oval of glass set into the surface. The woods were madrone and purpleheart. With the table came eight tall back chairs with a dramatic inlay of purpleheart set into the back and front. The effect in his dining room was stunning.

Thereafter there was no stopping Leonard and we went on to conceive of other projects for his house including a round inlayed kitchen table with four curly armed-chairs of the Vanya style as shown on my web site.

Leonard enjoyed art immensely but he also delighted in the process of discussion, design and refining the ideas and specifications into a beautiful furniture piece. One of my fondest memories I have is of Leonard lying on his back on the floor peering up at the structure beneath the table enjoying the design detail he found there. He commented with delight that the table was as beautiful underneath as it was from above.

I continued to make different pieces for Leonard's house over the next year and a half working from the dining room to the kitchen, the living room and the hall until we found ourselves downstairs dreaming up beautiful things to make Leonard's home more and more special.

When the round kitchen table and the upstairs hall bench were delivered during the winter, Leonard wrote:

"The table and chairs and bench were just delivered and they look exquisite. I am so very pleased!"

And so on to the next exciting project:

"I may have to think about the idea of a CD/DVD cabinet as well... The tables and bench have really changed the character of the entire room in a most wonderful way. I can hardly wait to add the sideboard to the room".

Leonard was thoroughly involved in the design process and enjoyed it immensely. He even made himself a cardboard mock up of the DVD/CD cabinets so that he could visualize how they would be and determine whether the size and proportion were right for the room in the position where they were intended.

"I'm still pondering the size/design of the bookcases and the CD/DVD cabinet. I'm concerned that the CD/DVD cabinet will be very tall and will be more overpowering in that corner than I'd like. Which would be a better idea, having the bottom drawer closer to the floor, or moving to two drawers rather than three? What would be the final height in each case?"

And the two bookcases on the lower landing:

"In the case of the bookcases, the dimensions will need some work. If the bookshelves are going to be separate, we might as well have the end one go into the back corner. That would make it 53Hx48W without it encroaching on the stairwell. You specified 54H and that won't quite fit. I'll definitely want some extra shelves for future flexibility."

His obvious attention to and enjoyment of the most intricate detail was a delight and so typical of Leonard. He had to participate not just have or own.

As we became closer friends, our telephone conversations and emails became more general and also more personal. And he usually ended each email to Ellen and I with "hugs". Leonard was thrilled to begin realizing his long ambition of learning to fly a helicopter. We discussed his progress:

"Well, I haven't really gotten comfortable enough to appreciate that aspect of flying over it (Arizona) yet, but I expect that will come more with time. At the moment, I've been quite happy to be keeping the helicopter reasonably straight and level, and make turns towards a destination".

Hugs,
Leonard.

Working with Leonard to create beautiful pieces for his enjoyment in his new home was a mutually gratifying and pleasurable experience as fullfilling artisitically as it was personally. We delighted in being his friend and we profoundly miss him.

Julian and Ellen Hamer
www.FineArtFurniture.com