Many of you have said it much more eloquently than I ever could.  I mourn for the family he leaves behind.  My condolences to his family and friends.
Ed


> I second everything Strike wrote. Being, or corresponding, with Ray was always
> an uplifting experience. A man of many talents and interests, he was, as the
> obituary does indeed point out, someone who believed in doing everything he did
> to the fullest.
>
> His little boy was everything to him, and we often wrote to each other privately
> about the joy of children. Our thoughts are with the poor tyke, and with
> everyone else he left behind.
>
> After the thread on Asian poverty we had on the list a while ago, he wrote to me
> and asked my to find a poor Asian family with which he could share his good
> fortune. While I directed him instead to one of the few charities I trust, the
> gesture was typical of Ray, and one that touched me deeply.
>
> Soyong carries a wonderful triggerfish pendant that I commissioned Ray to make
> (the same as he made for Strike), but despite the fact that I pointed out at the
> time of commissioning that it was an anniversary present, I never managed to get
> him to take money for it.
>
> He was the very epitome of a true Southern gentleman, and his death is a
> tremendous loss.
>
> Rest in peace - sir!
>
> Bjorn