Pierre Ramond
In 1987 I was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. I wanted to do something special with the money. I contacted the author of a book on marquetry who taught at the celebrated École Boulle in Paris with the hope of studying the classic marquetry methods. I told him I couldn’t stay for a whole school term, but I wondered if he would allow me to join the class for a shorter period of three months. I had two specific things I wanted to learn about classic marquetry technique; the piece-by-piece method and boullework. Happily, Pierre was familiar with my work and said I could indeed join the class for the truncated course.
My French was poor, Pierre’s English even poorer, but we were able to communicate. I did get the desired marquetry knowledge out of my stay, but more importantly I made a dear friend. We stayed in touch over the years and I was able to visit a couple of times.
Pierre died a few years ago and he will be missed by many. His legacy rests with his books on marquetry. And I also keep those personal memories.