I first met Ira--in person--about eight years ago at an IAAPA Leadership Conference. I was new to the organization and knew no one in the industry. The first day of the conference began with coffee and danish in the hotel lobby. I grabbed a cup of coffee, noticed a kindly looking gentleman standing by himself at a high-top table, and went over to introduce myself. When he looked up from his coffee and went to shake my hand, I caught a glimpse of his name tag. Without thinking, I blurted out "Oh my god, you're Ira West." He looked at me with a sly grin and said "Yes, I am." I explained that he had done a telephone conference call with my college class some thirty years earlier (I had picked his name out of a directory and called his office to see if he was willing--and, of course, he was.) "Really?" he replied. "What did I say?" I proceeded to tell him all about the call--I remembered it clearly and had been quoting from him every semester since the call. I hung around with Ira the entire conference. I told him that I wanted to be in whatever tour group he was in because I was far more interested in what he had to say than any of the park executives at the various venues we were about to visit. He said he didn't mind, and we spent the next few days together, with him mentoring me on the ins and the outs of the industry. In the years since, we kept in touch fairly often. We spent time together at a number of conferences, he did three Skype calls with my classes, updating his comments from thirty years earlier, and I went to see him several times when I was able to get out to Southern California. Last October my wife and I were in L.A. I emailed Ira ahead of time and offered to take him to lunch to thank him for his help with my classes. He suggested that we meet at his house as he had just recently been to the eye doctor and did not want to drive very far from home. Ira was an incredibly gracious host. We got to take him to lunch, but not before he gave us a tour of his house and then took us on an amazing excursion through the mountains in his "neighborhood." It was a trip my wife and I will never forget. I knew Ira had been having serious health problems, but I only just now learned of his passing--several weeks after it happened. I'm sorry I didn't do more to reach out earlier. Please know that I considered Ira one of the kindest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was a giant in the industry--and will always be remembered as such. But for me, I'll always remember him first and foremost as a friend.