Tag: American West

HERB RINGER at the GRAND CANYON (The Complete Collection: 1950-1957) ZX#18

During the past 34 years, I’ve mostly limited the range of Herb’s photos to the West. But Herb traveled all over America and into Canada. Though this issue starts with a very familiar and beloved location–the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, future editions will expand Herb’s work to locations from California to New England. At some point when I can find the time (like when I quit mowing the grass), I’d like to make this feature our second “Zephyr Extra” of the week, appearing each Thursday. I may not always be able to live up to that plan, but I will do my best. We’ll see how it goes.

Herb and I spent countless hours together over the years. He gave me all his old images, his journals and other memorabilia of his life. He started to lose his eyesight during the last few years and I often visited him at his home in Fallon, Nevada. After his passing, I wrote a long story about my buddy and mentor. I will include the link here but I wanted to share this one passage from it:

“His mind is as clear and crisp as the Rocky Mountain streams he spent summers by, in years past. But his body is failing him. As I watched Herb disappear into his darkened bed room, I knew he was making his way there by memory as well. His eyesight has deteriorated to the point where he can’t even see the vast collection of photographs he took of his favorite places over the last half a century. But he can still enjoy them. He pointed a finger to his head and said, ‘In here, I can still see everything.’”