Thank you, Bruce, for posting this. I'd like to echo everything that you have said here.
I met Bill Ndini in 1991 when I went to the second round of Christmastime Movie Poster Auctions at Christies (and then, at Sothebys). I was relatively new on the movie poster scene at that time, and I knew it. I met people at that time that were interested in film posters, and you can imagine that there were personalities of all stripes. One of the people that I met at that time was Bill. And I must say that Bruce's assessment of him is absolutely correct. Bill was kind. That was it. Remember, we are all just Here Today. Bill was not perfect, none of us are. But we could all take a page from Bill. I am very sorry to hear this, indeed. Kirby McDaniel > On Oct 5, 2020, at 11:16 PM, Bruce Hershenson <brucehershen...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Today I learned of the passing of the absolute nicest and most cultured > person I ever met in my entire life, Bill Ndini. I am posting about him here, > because I am sure some of you crossed paths with him. > > I met Bill Ndini in 1990, when I ran my first auction for Christie's in New > York City, and Bill was the curator of what would become the world's largest > privately held movie poster archive. We started as business acquaintances, > but that soon evolved into a friendship, one which continued long after his > archive ceased actively buying. > > We lived a long way apart, but whenever I visited New York we would get > together for lunch, and Bill always wanted to eat at the legendary Plaza > Hotel, shown here. > > Bill was a very private person (so private I could not find a single image of > him on the Internet), and never interested in talking about himself, but > through conversations over the years I was able to learn he was the son of > working class immigrants, who became a theater major in college, acting in a > number of plays. > > After college he was drafted into the Army during Vietnam, and he became a > medic, because he could never imagine hurting anyone. After that service, he > worked at various jobs, but (as I said above) he ended up as the curator of a > massive private movie poster archive. > > Whenever I had the occasion to describe Bill to anyone, I would say, "You > have surely met nice people in your life, but I guarantee you have NEVER met > anyone as nice as Bill", and in addition, he was SO "cultured" and "classy", > and "genuine" that he almost seemed too good to be true, but he indeed WAS > every bit as good as he seemed. > > A year ago I decided I wanted to take my two daughters (Hayley and Lucy) to > New York City for a trip they would never forget, and I called Bill and asked > if he would like to have lunch with us. He immediately agreed, and of course > suggested we meet at The Plaza. > > But he went on to ask what other plans I had made, and I said I had just > started, and he immediately set to work planning things for us to do, helping > me to get good tickets to two Broadway shows, a trip to the Metropolitan > Museum, and a guided tour of Julliard (we also went to the Statue of Liberty)! > > I had told my daughters that Bill was the nicest person they would ever meet, > and indeed, he met us at The Plaza with gifts for each of them, and after our > lunch, I could see that Bill had charmed them as completely as I am sure he > did everyone else he encountered! > > A few months later, I took a second trip, this time with my son, Samson, and > once again Bill helped set up our itinerary (which again was very memorable, > and included the two part Harry Potter Broadway show), and again we had a > memorable lunch with Bill at The Plaza, and again, I could see Bill had had a > big impact on Samson. > > Bill had had serious health problems for some time before that, and last > February he was in a car crash and was badly injured, but against all odds he > survived, but today he could not fight any longer, and he passed away, and he > was 79. > > But I don't want to dwell on that. I want to think about the many thousands > of lives this wonderful man greatly enriched throughout his entire long life. > He was everything any good person strives to be, and hopes to someday be, and > the world is much the poorer for his no longer being in it. RIP, my dear, > dear friend. :( > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
