I knew Philippe's reputation as a master engraver, before I met him in person at a number of occasions over the years. What I noticed, as is often the case with a great master, although I was very much on the low end of the totem pole, he treated us all with equal grace and humanity. I have photographs of his well worn tools, and when demonstrating, as Sam says, the chips would fly fast and furious.
May I offer humbly these words to all his friends, colleagues, and family:
"Upon the Bereavement of a Friend"
Aliveness has now passed from the body
Into a realm that we must hold as 'mystery'
Each one of us has our hopes and dreams for how that realm might be
We have our beliefs and faiths, our fears, our prayers, and our wonderings
Now more than ever we want to be near him.
We feel that he was taken away too soon,
That his life could have continued to bear fruit.
Locked in the human condition, the cross is a hard one for us to bear.
Yet who he is, is not far from us,
And he will be there for us to provide the courage
That must be brought forth daily to strengthen our hearts
In his mortal absence
For we are not who we think we are,
We are not our body, our thoughts, or our feelings.
They are a part of us.
And we are not who we pretend to be,
We are much greater than this.
Here for just a moment, 'Locked in time, we belong to eternity'.
Belatedly, we discover that we are not the content of our life,
Rather, we are life's emptiness from whence true creation springs.
We are the no-thing-ness, the clean slate upon which life is written
Go now and feel his presence
As the sweet soft air that holds aloft the bird in flight
He is the deep waters of the lake upon which the lily grows,
He is the mists that swirl about the lonely paths,
He is the wind that shakes the barley
Phil was a great guy and friend to so many people on both sides of the Atlantic. I had the pleasure of his company in Reno many times often sharing a cigarette in the smoking room outside.
The engraving world is going to be a lot smaller place without him. He was a true master in every way.
My sincere condolences to his family and friends. He will be missed very much.
I am deeply saddened by the news of Philippe’s sudden death. He will be greatly missed in the engraving world and I want to send my sincerest condolences for the loss to his family.
Sincerely,
Martin
He died from swallowing a piece of meat that got stuck down his windpipe. His son found him and tried to revive him with the Heimlech manuever (so I understand) but when the paramedics arrived his brain had been w/o oxygen too long and the family took him off life support. He was a diabetic (for those who did not know) and was on Insulin... Did a stroke start the series of events? we will not know... He was a dear friend along with Rocky Capece, who is also a master in his own right! Rene is gone now Philippe... I have suggested to Steve Fjested to create an engraving book on Phil's work. Mentioned this to him in Las Vegas, and again today. Phil chronicled every gun he ever did and had volumes of books of his guns that would compile a 3 volume set easily. For the families sake I would like to see Steve take this on to do and complete to help the family in some sort of way.... Would suggest others press Steve too... Just my .02.... Hope this helps, we are so easily gone from this world, never promised tomorrow.