Saturday, July 1, 2023
Mark and I met in the Boy Scout early to mid 70’s. He wasn’t the typical boy. His intellect far exceeded most of his contemporaries. He would capture rare lizards and snakes where ever he went and spend countless hours in studying each species to the smallest detail. He would replicate the environment that they lived in within a terrarium and his detail was specific and precise in every way. He had captured a collared lizard out west while on vacation with his family. He nurtured that reptile (like all others he had acquired through painstaking years). When one of his specimens died, he would mourn its loss and gently place it in a bottle filled with a preserving fluid. He would still study them. His curiosity knew no boundaries. His memory was complex and detailed to the extent that he could draw the reptile in its entirety and the detail was always incredible. I envied his intelligence. He was rather eccentric but always fun. I remember stopping at his house on Saturday a time or two to watch a hokey old Godzilla movie. He didn’t care much for sports of any kind but he would always stop and watch Godzilla and whoever he’d be fighting on that day. After Junior high school, I lost track of him. He always seemed to be somewhat a loner for as long as I knew him and he never seemed to be bothered by it. So often through my life, I wish I had known him better and become good friends. He was unique and if I had to choose one single word to describe him, I would label him as GENIUS. The world was much more interesting with him in it. Goodbye old friend.
Roger Johnson
