[Tig] [cml-general] A great man, John Pytlak has passed away.

[Jeff Kreines]

> John Pytlak was born to teach.  His final lessons may have been his  
> most important.

Brian Heller's words are very true.

Few of us are able to leave such a significant imprint on the fields  
in which we work -- every day many of us, or our films, depend on  
both LADs and PTRs -- two of John's big contributions to the  
industry, and two that wil be with us as long as film is in use.

I suggest PTRs now be known as either PPTRs (Pytlak PTRs) or PTRs  
with Pytlak substituted for Particle.  These rollers will soon have a  
new role in helping preserve a lot of archival film -- in a way not  
possible without them.  Another way in which John's work will live on.

However, I'm not sure PLAD is as good an acronym (unless Mr. P was a  
Scot).

There are a lot of people who do important work behind the scenes in  
filmmaking technology -- and few get the attention they merit for  
their work.  I hope that will change -- for every Lumiere or Mitchell  
there's also a Maurer or Pytlak -- less well known, but equally  
deserving of honor.

Jeff Kreines