![]() He also of course held Mark and Susan in especially high regard as friends, colleagues and just plain great people.Please know we've all lost a friend here. There are many long timers he was very fond of but he took great pride and pleasure in helping new members like myself. I want everyone to know how much he loved being part of this forum, even though he had friends and colleagues all over the world, this is where his heart was. He died the next day.This man who loved to help others, especially here in this forum. He wasn't feeling well and I asked him to drop a one liner if he didn't feel like talking so I knew he was ok.He did on Sept. The last time we talked was Thursday September 9th. I felt great pride and good fortune that he let me help him get through his heartache. When it happened I didn't know what to do for him, me being all the way across the country so I did what any good Italian boy does, I sent him food! I sent him seafood from my hometown, the oldest fishing port in America!! He was a HUGE lover of every and any type of cuisine and he thanked me profusely and ultimately sent me a gift in return, a Yaginoshima Asagi natural stone which I shall cherish always. He always had an instant answer to any question and from the day Mani died not a sunset passed without our daily discourse. After we got to know one another I told him my intent was for him to become my mentor all along and he said he was glad I did. He said the last couple times I talked to him that he had to tie all the loose ends and then get with the living of life but I knew his heart wasn't in it. That life without Mani wasn't meant to be. She was his whole life and i suspected from the day she passed that this would be his fate. She had a great laugh and a zest for life, despite being bed-ridden by the time I met her. She took a liking to me and it was my great good fortune to become her friend too. The phone was always on speaker with Mani at his side. What his opinion was on how to solve various repair posts, etc. We talked every day about what was said in various posts. He was smart, quick-witted and utterly devoted to this forum. Very quickly I decided to see if I could get a dialogue going and maybe learn something but deep down I was looking for a mentor. So many people getting answers from the same man. One of the first things I noticed was Ken's posts. I joined this group in November of this year. I thought it might be nice to hear what you learned from him, or how he’s made your life better through his products. Ken was a great asset to the sharpening community. Ron, Brian, Bernice, Kyle, Uncle Jones, Jake Rest in peace Sensei, you will be missed, Mani, his wife of 25 years, passed only a few weeks earlier. No surprise then that Ken was an absolute master of the craft of sharpening as well. Ken traded extensively in rare natural water stones for many years. But he could speak at length on the history and specific qualities of every one of them. Stones with names you never heard before, and lots of them, names most of us couldn’t even pronounce. Ken was also an authority on the subject of rare natural Japanese water stones. Our CBN emulsions? Look at the labels on the bottles. Use KME Chosera stones?.Ken cut and dressed every single one of them by hand. If you didn’t know the Great Sensei, but you’re on this forum, you’re very likely using products that Ken helped to pioneer years ago. I’m very sorry to have to bring everyone this sad news but, Ken Schwartz, the great Sensei of all things micro abrasive, passed away at home earlier this week.Īnyone who knew Ken will realize what an enormous loss this is to the sharpening community as a whole. Here’s a nice write up from the KME Facebook page: Our thoughts and prayers are with his family… After some digging, it looks like he passed on September 11th of this year. I just saw that Ken Schwartz passed away via Michael Christy’s IG page.
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