I wish I'd had the chance to meet him. Thanks for sharing.
Chris Quarles On Tue, Oct 6, 2020 at 11:02 AM Kirby McDaniel <ki...@movieart.com> wrote: > 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 > > > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > 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.
