in the summer of 1991, I walked into my first photography class in Roanoke, VA taught by Martin Church. I didn't think of it as anything but another class I needed to take and in fact, I almost took it with another instructor. Luckily my advisor battled me into taking Marty's class. This ended up being a life altering decision because had I not taken that class, I never would have went to Virginia Intermont College and who know if I would have a Bachelors degree in anything? Also this has been a friendship filled with hiking, camping, canoes, roadtrips, food, vacations, parties, music, books, street characters, family, all night printing and film developing and even seeing Jesus Christ himself when we put liquid light on the cabinet door and developed it. There have been a few times when I have thought this is it! Like when he moved to Arizona and then Hawaii but it just allowed me to visit those places and we began sharing through mail and e-mail. Eventually his family was just a drive away again, Allowing me to spend countless weekends like this one. I i have learned a lot from Marty but the sharing of Ideas and great conversations I think have shaped me as a person. I owe the man so much for setting me on this journey that started with one photography class and has turned into a lifelong friendship with grey hair and in my case a balding head.