I am honoring my first mentor, Greg Watson. Greg and I worked together at Hanna-Barbera Studios in their sound department for four years. Our rooms faced each other across the hall in the basement of the studio. If I had a question, I would simply shout out my door and he'd shout back or, more likely, get up and come in to dispense advice. I loved Greg as a man and as a sound artist. He evinced all the qualities that I aspired to have: patience, creativity, and thick skin.

Greg started his career at MGM studios working for Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera as their editor  in residence on the early Tom and Jerry animated shorts. In those days the editor was responsible for the picture as well as the sound edit. Greg was instrumental (pun intended) in building what would become the iconic Hanna-Barbera sound library replete with Zips and Boings and Blop Gallops and hundreds of other zany sounds made with musical instruments and props. The inventiveness and creativity visited upon this library is extraordinary. The ability to abstract a sound and re-contextualize it formed the foundations of my early sound design education and I use those skills to this day. Animation (with its ability to stretch the laws of physics) allows the sound artist to stretch the possibilities of metaphorical sound. Greg stands among other giants of animation sound, Tregg Brown (Warner Brothers) and Jimmy Macdonald (Disney), as having created a signature sonic identity to the films he worked on.

I miss Greg. He was a gentleman in a business that constantly tests ones integrity. He was deeply loved by everyone that knew him, even crusty old Joe (whom shall remain otherwise nameless). Joe had a daily ritual of showing his love by walking past Greg’s room every morning at 9am and asking "Did I tell you to go  F#@%& yourself today?" to which Greg would always reply with a smile "Why no Joe, you haven't, thank you very much!".

I took the picture above when I decided it was time to move on to bigger challenges. I didn't want to forget those who helped me be a better person and sound artist as they lead by example.