50 replies to this topic

[georgepavliscak]

My condolences to the family. That is terrible news.

[greg11]

I listed a marble on Ebay today, All proceeds will be sent to Sue and the girls. I know it won't be much but it's something.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=5986608439

item 5986608439

[MARBLEMISER]

My sincere condolences to Sue and the girls. I considered Les a true friend, & mentor.
I always liked the way he would get when you tried to get a deal better than he already made to you.
That ARE YOU KIDDING ME? LOOK He will be truely missed by me.
Maybe the Big guy can teach the other Big Guy about marbles.

I am so sorry.

Ray Starkey
aka marblemiser

[Dixiesmarbles]

The marble community has taken quite a blow at the loss of Les. As for our family, the shows will never be the same. Even though we had collected marbles for many years, we were introduced to the marble community by Les, and we learned a great deal from him. I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that I could go to him with a question or a situation to get honest answers. His character spoke volumes of the man.
He was instrumental in helping to start and nurture the Indiana Marble Show and Club with his support.
There was no doubt, however, that where his heart truly lied, though, in the love of his family. We spent many hours speaking of his concerns and his pride in his wife and children. Our prayers our with them all.
I for one will miss that smile, that laugh and his friendship!!

Beth Morris

[Royal3]

When I first heard the news of Les's passing, it was indeed a sickening feeling. What an indescribable loss for his family, his friends, and the marble community. You often hear the expression "larger than life" but you rarely have the good fortune to meet someone like that, let alone have the tremendous luck to be able to call him friend. I will always treasure his smile, his generosity, and the pride he had for his lovely family. My heart truly aches for them, and my prayers will be with them all.

Royal Morse

[BobBlock]

I was shocked by the news that Les had passed away.

Les was one of my favorite people in the marble collecting world. I have so many memories of Les and stories about him (as do many who knew him), that I can't even begin to record them all here.

My first memory of Les is from the Columbus show in 1990. He stopped at my table and we started chatting. He said he had lost his entire marble collection in a fire and was starting to build it up again. It's amazing what he accomplished in the following 15 years.

The last time I spent significant time with Les was during the Clum auction last September. He was having a great time bidding during the auction and was really happy about some of the buys he got. Although, I think he had more fun selling marbles out of the back of his truck before and after the auction each day! I'll never forget the poker game we had in his hotel room the night between the two auction days.

Those intervening years have seen a lot of marbles change hands between the two of us. I bought a lot from Les, sold him a lot, and he has been a consignor in my auctions for a long, long time. It was always a treat coming to a show and stepping into his room, because you always knew you were going to see some great marbles, and get a fair deal from Les. And he could find marbles "out in the wild" like you wouldn't believe. Someone once told me that there wasn't a marble for sale within 500 miles of Les that he didn't know about.

The one marble that I bought from Les that I will treasure the most (and the one that shows the kind of person Les was) was a Christensen Agate handgathered that I bought from him at the Amana 2004 show. I had pulled a bunch of marbles for him to give me a price and the CAC was in with them. He picked it up and said "I've had that marble in that case for a couple of shows now and no one has even looked at it. You know what that is, right." I said, "Yeh, its one of those Christensen handgathereds. I'm going to put it in my collection". He said, "No one else even looked at it, you can have it for 5 bucks". Needless to say I'll never part with that one :-)

It broke my heart when I heard the news about Les a couple of days ago. The marble collecting world has a lost a collector and dealer of enormous stature. The shows will never be the same without him there.

Sarah and my deepest sympathies go out to Sue, Krystal, Carianne, Abby and the rest of his family. Les will be sorely missed!

[b-80]

Well said Bob. He was truely one of a kind.
Roy

[Shamrock Marbles]

Les was larger than life.
My first interaction with him was Hannibal 2003.
Chris Robinson and I shared a table next to him.
We talked about patents and variations in different marbles.
I went into overload with all he shared.
He didn't know me from adam, but he handed me a CA Cobra so I could see what beauties they really are.
He was a giver, an educator and an ambassador.

The next time we met was in KC for Marble Crazy 2004.
I brought a gun case of marbles I made and a box of cast-offs.
Initially, he looked them over and handed them back with a non-plus look on his face.
After talking awhile about marble construction, he asked to see the marbles again.
He picked through the marbles and set aside a few for someone special.
The following day he came out to Moon Marble to see a demonstration on the marble machine.
We talked more about marbles and glass.

A few months later at Amana 2004, I stopped in his room first to show him some new developments.
He opened the case and said he had to call a friend of his.
I left the room so that he and his buddy could look over the marbles in private.
As I walked down the hallway from his room, I ran into his friend.
After making the rounds, I stopped in an we made a transaction.
He even took the time to tell me why he bought what he bought.

I never saw Les after that show.
I owe him a debt of gratitude for being honest with me.
God speed.

Sincerely,
John McCormick
Shamrock Marbles

[B.T.]

Alan has posted a wonderful tribute to Les on his site! There is current information and will be more information coming about how to help Les’ family out during this difficult time. Thank you to all who have helped to make this a living tribute to the Big Guy!
BT

[roghow]

This is indeed a sad day for me as I am just now finding out about the passing of Les. I do not have much opportunity to visit the boards and this is my first post on this one.

I had the privilege of sharing several hours in Les' room at the Columbus show in 2002 after my having been in the hobby for less than a year. What a fantastic learning experience! I couldn't believe that he was so generous in allowing someone whom he didn't even know to stay in his room that long. Despite my being a newbie, he answered all my questions and shared the viewing of a couple cases of his personal collection of antique handmades that blew my socks off...all this attention as though I were a long-time friend and seasoned collector. I have not been able to get to a show since, and I will always remember the special treatment that he so willingly gave to me and obviously a multitude of others.

I have special memories of the way-too-few marbles that I did manage to acquire from Les for my fledgling collection, a couple at that show and a few off his eBay site.

Les will be sadly missed. My deepest condolences go out to his family.

Roger Vogel