For those of you who were friends and admirers of Howard Opper and his wife Marie-José, who in recent years have been living in the south of France, with great sorrow, Marie-José has just told me that Howard passed away after a two-year struggle with pancreatic cancer.

I was in France just over a year ago, and spent a couple of days with Howard and Marie-José--and we had a lovely time together. I am so grateful for those memories.

For those of you who may not know, Howard and Marie-Jo met when he was stationed in Senegal while working for the Peace Corps. They came to America and settled in Washington, DC in about 1988, and joined the Bead Society of Greater Washington--where Howard served as President in 1990, the year the organization sponsored the Second International Bead Conference.

Howard will be remembered as a kind, handsome, likable man, with a sincere interest in beads and their history, and has a glass-beadmaker--having taking up this art just prior to their return to France. Marie-Jo also indulged in beadmaking, along with other arts. For several years, they managed a charming shop in Collioure (an artist colony), while residing in Banyuls-sur-Mer.

I greatly value the time I spent with them in DC, and that Howard and Marie-Jo always generously shared information, and allowed me to document their collections. Their original research has been presented in four publications they produced, two being self-published, on Kiffa beads and Czech beads; and two having been presented in Beads (the journal of the Society of Bead Researchers), on French glass-beadmaking, and the archaeological recovery of trade beads in Senegal.

It is very sad to lose a friend--and more-so when that is someone who gifted the world with charm, enthusiasm, honesty, and real friendship. Just having them so far away, in recent years, has been unsettling. But the prospect of never seeing Howard again is a great loss. My sincere condolences to Marie-José.

I know Howard's many friends feel similarly.

Take care. Jamey