In memoriam of Mr.Fitz

[Pink Dragonfly]

Dear everyone,

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that one of the all time greats on this site, Mr.Fitz, is no longer with us. I'm sure that all of you that have been around here for some time will remember this fantastic photographer, who was an inspiration to us all, both with his stunning photographs, his on-the-ball critiques and not least his willingness to share his wisdom and experience to pro and beginner alike.

I originally joined PR back in the summer of 2000 just after embarking upon my new life with photography and a spanking new Minolta Dynax 800si and lots and lots of questions (some more intelligent than others!). Mr.Fitz responded to my very first question and we quickly developed a very good dialogue. He patiently answered and explained my endless questions, critiquing hundreds of my photos that I emailed him. He did indeed become my mentor, Mr.Fitz taught me just about everything I know about photography. And he became a really close friend, both of us amazed how strong a friendship could be forged through cyberspace, half way across the real world, him in Canada, me in Borneo - always ready with a shoulder to cry on and some fatherly advice when I'd got myself into a sticky situation with the men in my life...

Following some dramatic changes in my life and a move to Denmark, we didn't have much contact the last couple of years and none since May 2007 when my computer crashed into oblivion and I lost his email address. After a long period without photography and a lot of tears over my "useless" Minolta gear, I discovered last weekend that Sony now did a DSLR that would take my Minolta lenses and of course the first person I wanted to talk to was Mr.Fitz. But where was he? I looked here on PR as this is where we first met 8 years ago, found a thread started by Liz, also looking for Mr.Fitz. I contacted Liz and and got an email adress for Fitz. I wrote to him immediately and was hopeful as I didn't get a "Recipient unknown" or similar return mail. Until I got the following email from his wife yesterday

"Hi Mette. This is Paul's wife, Carmen, writing. I am sad to tell you that Paul passed away last year (Aug 3 07). He was receiving chemotherapy every month for the past year. He seemed to be doing ok until June when the lymphoma went "rampaging" through his body. From June til July he was in and out of the hospital trying to get it under control and at one point in early July, he seemed to be ok so they let him come home. ten days later he was back in the hospital and this time the doctor just shook his head. He died a week later.
His children came to our house and took his computers so I had no way of notifying his friends who were on-line. Please pass the above information on to Liz. thank you for being a friend to Paul.
Carmen"

Right now I feel pretty numb with sadness and unable to fully enjoy my brand new Sony Alpha 700, but as Liz wrote to me last night "Although you (we) feel very sad that Fitz is no longer with us, he would want you to experience the excitement and joy of your new photography equipment. Nothing would please him more." She is so right, so tomorrow I wil go out to play with my new camera with Fitz watching me from above!

I have a attached (I think!) one of his photographs that I really like. It would also be great if other people would like to share their memories of Mr.Fitz, and to finish off, I'll qoute Liz again, I really couldn't say it any better:

"We can continue to be inspired by his love of photography, use all the techniques and advice he has given us, and maybe you (and I ) will eventually create an image that is worthy of being called "Fitz" or "Remembering Fitz" or something to that effect."

God bless his soul

[starriderrick]

"We can continue to be inspired by his love of photography" I like that... very inspirational.

Sorry to hear that.I had a childhood friend pass recently from lukemia.Life is so short...don't wait for anything. What was his username on PR? I'd like to see his gallery. Do tell.
I joined in 2004 so I did not have the pleasure to interact or see the mans work.
With regards,

Rick

[Pink Dragonfly]

Dear Rick,
Thank you for your kind words. Sorry to hear of your loss too.
When I first met Paul, he was Mr.Fitz - he later on changed it to StillMrFitz. You must just have missed him, he was fairly active until August 2004 when his condition started to deteriorate. Also some kind of leukaemia...Unfortunately, I can't see any photos in his gallery? If anybody out there has any, please post them! Liz?
Warm regards,
Mette

[another view]

Sorry to hear that you lost your friend. Liz always knows what to say, and I agree that you should get out there with your camera and all of the inspiration he gave you. It'll help.

This is an interesting subject - although I didn't really "know" him that well, I have known quite a few people online fairly well over the years. Somehow people lose track of each other, and I guess this is bound to happen at some time.

"Don't wait for anything"... How true!

[megan]

I remember Mr. Fitz... sorry to hear about his death, but glad that you enjoyed a wonderful friendship while he was still alive.

[Asylum Steve]

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that one of the all time greats on this site, Mr.Fitz, is no longer with us...

Thanks for this info. It is so seldom we get closure on the many "internet" friends that enter and leave our life over time. Actually kind of remarkable that word got back to this forum.

Yeah, I remember Fitz. He was one of the frequent posters when I first joined this site way back when, and I think they always leave an impression on you as a newbie.

A good man. I agree he would have wanted you to get "to it" with your new gear...

[Frog]

I didn't know him as I didn't show up here until 2006 but I can empathize with your feelings as there are several here who inspire me with their work.
I do wish we could see some of his work.

[Ballen Photo]

My sincere condolences. Life is just too short. I'm truly sorry to hear about your loss.
-Bruce

[Liz]

Thank you, Mette, for your wonderful tribute to Paul Fitz - Fitz, MrFitz, StillMrFitz. He was a good friend. And like you, I am sometimes amazed how we can hold a place in our hearts for someone we met online. My relationship with Paul was mostly here on PR, and a few emails here and there. He was an artist, a learned man, an enthusiastic teacher, and for some (like Mette) a good mentor. He was always willing to go the extra mile to help others. He also had a bit of an edge to his personality and once in a while sparked off some interesting discussions here on PR.

He had a very tough battle with cancer for the last few years of his life which included all the physical and emotional termoil that defines cancer. However, he never gave up. His joy and the delight of his heart during this time was the birth of his grandson Maddox, a gift from God that gave him the courage during the last few years of his life.

Dear Paul - you will be remembered among your photography friends here at PR with fondness. We are most grateful for all you have taught us, for sharing your photography skills and going the extra mile to assure that we got it right, for your perseverance in living a quality of life and reaching out to others during your battle with cancer. And for those of us who developed a relationship with you, we will think of you often with gratitude for the gift of your friendship and for all you have contributed to our lives. Thank you, Paul!

I found this photo last night. The link below the photo is to StillMrFitz' profile. It includes a few conversations. but only a few photos. Most of his photos and conversations were under his original name "MrFitz" which he said he couldn't find when he returned to PR after an absence. He didn't post as much under StillMrFitz due to his illness.

Liz

Maddox at 2 weeks

Link to profile - and a few posts

http://forums.photographyreview.com/...earchid=342830

[another view]

Hi Liz - as I mentioned in your help post, it's probably best just to leave the link in your reply above. This way someone isn't posting an image that isn't their own, and we can also see some of his comments.

[Pink Dragonfly]

Thank you for your warm words, Liz. Huh, yes I remember a few heated discussions, Fitz did have a quite a temper when somebody pressed the right buttons!

Here's his photo of grandson Maddox. I don't know if there is an easier way of doing it, I copied the photo onto my computer and uploaded it from there...But I do so wish that all his postings as MrFitz could have been retrieved from cyberspace....

Mette

[another view]

I copied the photo onto my computer and uploaded it from there...

Mechanically,that will work just fine and this situation is a little different given the circumstances, but we don't want people posting someone else's images - a link is preferred. It's a matter of respect for the photographer, and also a copyright issue. I also think keeping the link is a good idea because from the original thread, people can get to his user profile to search for more posts and his gallery (but I didn't check to see if he had one).

[Pink Dragonfly]

I agree totally, and it's not something I would have done under any other circumstances. And I hope people will check out the links as well. Unfortunately, I can't see any photos in his gallery.
His lovely fog and mist photo in my original posting can be viewed together with a companion shot and comments in the following link

The Differrence A Day Makes

Mette

[Liz]

I agree totally, and it's not something I would have done under any other circumstances. And I hope people will check out the links as well. Unfortunately, I can't see any photos in his gallery.
His lovely fog and mist photo in my original posting can be viewed together with a companion shot and comments in the following link

The Differrence A Day Makes

Mette

Mette,
I believe he posted the majority of his photos under "MrFitz" at one time. After posting many photos, posts, etc., he took a short absence from PR. When he returned he couldn't find his original log-in name so created "StillMrFitz" so the only images left are those you see in his posts as StillMrFitz. I believe his gallery photos must be where his original name is.

Liz

[Pink Dragonfly]

I think his original profile somehow has got deleted along the way, I certainly can't seem to find anything. What a pity!

Mette

[another view]

If you click on the Members List in the blue bar (My Account, FAQ...), there are 3,481 members that start with "M"... I wasn't able to get any results from a search other than from his "Still Mr Fitz" user ID. Maybe Photo-John would know? You could try sending him a PM.

[Liz]

If you click on the Members List in the blue bar (My Account, FAQ...), there are 3,481 members that start with "M"... I wasn't able to get any results from a search other than from his "Still Mr Fitz" user ID. Maybe Photo-John would know? You could try sending him a PM.

I went through the "M" file last night - nothing for MrFitz.....or Fitz.......just StillMrFitz.

Liz

[Photo-John]

I went through the "M" file last night - nothing for MrFitz.....or Fitz.......just StillMrFitz.

Liz

We changed forum software a few years ago and MrFitz was likely in the old system. I'll see if it's recoverable.

Thanks for posting this. It's good to remember an honor people who have contributed to our lives and inspired us. And the Internet is a very real part of our world now. People we know here in this "virtual" world should be respected and remembered, too.

[Charles Hess]

Thanks to Liz for letting me know about the link. I was a regular here some time back, remember Mr. Fitz very well...we even knocked heads a few times, but there was no questioning his knowledge and passion for photography. Trust that he's at peace.

[Pink Dragonfly]

I really hope Photo-John will manage to recover Fitz's photos, thank you John, from the bottom of my heart...that really would mean a lot to me, as I also lost all the photos he´d mailed me over the years when I had my major computer meltdown last year.

Hehe Charles, yes I remember some of your battles with Mr.Fitz :-)

By the way, does anyone know what's happened to another old-timer, Michael Fanelli?

Mette

[Liz]

By the way, does anyone know what's happened to another old-timer, Michael Fanelli?

:nono: Shhhhh......don't say "old" too loudly! He's around here somewhere - he frequents the Off Topic Forum. You could sent him a private message - or put out a call here on the forum!

Liz

[Pink Dragonfly]

Thank you all so much for contributing with your thoughts. Especially thanks to Liz for encouraging me to make this posting. It has been a very therapeutic exercise for me! And I went out to the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen on Saturday, fully enjoying my new camera as Fitz would have wanted me to, and with 288 photos nearly breaking my one day record of 8 rolls of film Paul, you were with me all the way!

Mette

[another view]

By the way, does anyone know what's happened to another old-timer, Michael Fanelli?

As Liz said, he posts most often (AFAIK) in Off Topic. He has changed his user name a few times (don't know why) but you should recognize it - it will be close, like MWFanelli or something like that.

[Pink Dragonfly]

Thanks for the tip! I found him as mwfanelli2, it appears he's had some log-in trouble and was forced to change name. He was last active at the end of July this year, so hopefully all is well and good with him!