Arthur Frisch

The beloved Chronicle photographer who rose from copy boy to become deputy chief photographer and who was known for his professionalism and his good humor, has died. Frisch died Jan. 10, 2008 in a Walnut Creek board and care facility after a long illness. He was 89.

He was a gentleman who, even when covering the most tragic or dramatic story, never lost his composure or his poise. "Art was a cool guy," said Chronicle photographer Fred Larson. "He was old school, and a pleasure to work for. When Art put an assignment in your hand, you went and did it on the spot. He expected you to run out the door. You better not finish your lunch first."

"That's right," recalled former Chronicle photographer John O'Hara. "One photographer stopped to wash his hands after Art told him to go cover a fire. Art never forgot it. Never."

Frisch, known for his devotion to breaking news, dragged himself from bed in Walnut Creek early one morning in 1982 when a phone tip came about a gasoline truck fire inside the Caldecott Tunnel. He was the first photographer into the eastern end of the tunnel, capturing dramatic images of the horrific blaze that killed seven people.

He was also known for a frequently reprinted 1976 photograph of a rare snowstorm that dusted the hills of Marin County, and of a tense 1980 conflict involving Sausalito house boaters, and of the Goodyear blimp seemingly tied (an illusion) to the tip of the still-unfinished Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco.

From a hovering helicopter, he captured the image of countless U.S. Navy sailors standing on one side of the aircraft carrier Enterprise after it ran aground in San Francisco Bay in 1983, futilely attempting with their combined weight to dislodge the stuck ship.

He was a perfectionist in his work and his personal routine and, recalled Larson, he was the only Chronicle photographer ever to wax his company car. Unlike other photographers who tossed their gear haphazardly into the car trunk, Frisch always kept his cameras and lenses in small slots, in apple-pie order.

Frisch was a native San Franciscan and a graduate of Balboa High School. He joined The Chronicle staff in 1935 as a copy boy and was soon promoted to chief copy boy. In that capacity, he hired David Perlman, now The Chronicle's longtime science editor, who began his career filling glue pots and changing typewriter ribbons under Frisch's unflappable command. "Art made us wear neckties and sit on a bench near the city desk," Perlman recalled. "Art said we were supposed to be ready to do anything that the reporters and editors needed. What we often wound up doing was taking orders for hamburgers and running betting slips to a bookmaker on Fifth Street."

Another of Frisch's early hires was a UC Berkeley journalism student, Jean Baumgartner, whom he married in 1942. Mrs. Frisch died in 2002, after 59 years of marriage.

Frisch was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, who was stationed on a net tender in San Francisco Bay and later served as chief boatswain's mate on a floating dry dock in the South Pacific.

On returning to The Chronicle, he joined the photography staff and was named deputy chief photographer in the 1960s. He was invariably considerate of his staff and always tried to assign photographers to stories that were close to their homes, or to those of their sweethearts. As deputy chief, Frisch made assignments and maintained The Chronicle darkroom, frequently helping deadline-rushed colleagues to print their photographs from negatives.

He retired in 1984 and devoted himself to golf, travel, spy novels and to his grandchildren. He gave his old camera gear to his young grandson, Chris, and helped him get started as a freelance photographer.
He is survived by his children, Susan Woods of Walnut Creek, Robin Griffiths of Clayton, and Anthony Frisch of Reno.
A memorial celebration will be held Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. at 3151 Kirby Lane, Walnut Creek.

By Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer

Jack Fields

Retired freelance magazine photographer Jack Fields, former San Jose State University photojournalism instructor, died of heart failure on December 13 at his Placerville home. He was 87.

Fields served for three years as "Visiting Professor" at SJSU in the late 1970's. While at SJSU he pioneered what he called a "no-nonsense" approach to photography, a subject that was often taught as "pure art" at many universities.

Fields was founding chairman of the Bay Area chapter of the American Society of Magazine Photographers in an era when Wayne Miller, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange and Imogen Cunningham were members of the organization.

As a young boy in Kansas, Fields dreamed of "far-away places with strange sounding names". After a formal education and a wartime stint in the South Pacific, Fields embarked upon a 50-year career, traveling on assignment for Collier's, Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Look, and Life.

Before World War II, Fields earned a Bachelor's degree in Science from Kansas State College. He was planning to teach but was sent to New Guinea with the armed forces where he began taking pictures. He was assigned as a photographer for the Air Force’s Yank Magazine when he contracted tuberculosis and was returned to the U.S. to recuperate. While at Cragmor Sanitorium in Colorado Springs, Fields met Dorothy Gindling, also a patient and fellow TB sufferer, whom he married in 1948.

After five years of recuperation, the Fields moved to Los Angeles where Jack attended the Art Center College of Design while Dorothy enrolled in writing classes at the Maren Elwood School. As an art student, he sold his first photos to Look Magazine. After completing their studies, the Fields traveled to Europe, working on assignment for various publications.

The Fields became known for their ability to find interesting, yet untold stories, especially in the South Pacific. In 1971 they approached a Japanese publisher with an Idea for an all-encompassing book on the region which became their 1973 book "South Pacific".

Fields was the first photojournalist to report on Micronesia after it became a U.S. Trust at the end of WWII. His photograph of a laser pioneer at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was used as a reference image for a commemorative stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service in August, 1999. Fields’ photographs are represented by the Corbis.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Nature Conservancy. Condolences may be sent to Dorothy Fields, 6021 Golden Center Dr., Placerville, CA 95667-6222. Dorothy Fields' phone number is (530) 622-1772.

Laurence “Larry” Craig

Retired KRON chief photographer Laurence “Larry” Craig died in late July after a long illness. He was 73.

Craig mentored retired KRON photographer Joe Aquilina. Aquilina said, "I had to give up my film camera and start shooting with the beast RCA-TK76 (early video tape camera). Larry had to carry the record deck, attached to my camera with an umbilical cord, while teaching me the ins and outs of the camera at the same time. He was the pro when it came to ENG and made my transition from film to video that much smoother. Larry would sympathize when I would complain about the new camera and losing the freedom of just shooting news without having someone tied to me. He knew that ENG was the future of TV news and it was only a matter of time when the equipment would change for the better. Also, I never had to worry about him not paying attention to what was going on around us. That meant he moved when I moved and I never had the viewfinder bang into my eye because of him. Sounds like a simple memory but trust me, it meant a lot at the time. We've lost another one of KRON's pioneers."

Craig was born in Hiawatha, Kansas, in 1934 was raised in San Francisco. At age 19, he left home to go 'adventuring' around the United States, Mexico, Europe, Africa, and the Far East. Returning to San Francisco in 1962, he married his college sweetheart, Julie, and opened a photographic arts studio. Craig developed an interest in film making and in 1967 and became a television news cameraman for KRON. He transferred his skills from film to video. He was chief photographer for KRON during the transition.

He won numerous professional awards for his work. He was past president of SFBAPPA. He continued his hobby of large format photography after his retirement.

He is survived by his son, Shannon and brother Bruce.

Paul Glines

Former San Francisco Examiner photographer Paul Glines, 71, died suddenly Thursday morning of a heart attack while driving near his home in Matawan, New Jersey. In the turbulent 1960s, Glines headed west to California, where he was hired as a staff photographer for the San Francisco Examiner.

Glines landed his first job as a photographer for the Union-Leader in Manchester, N.H. ''He got a book at the library on how to take pictures and develop film, and he went to the newspaper and said he could be a photographer," Glines' wife, Sara Glines said. It worked, and he was off and running on a career that would span five decades.

He became an accomplished photojournalist who strove to elevate the profession, said Eric Meskauskas, the Examiner's former director of photography. "He tried to make photographers more than just cameramen, He tried hard to show that photographers had as much to contribute to journalism as writers. The thing about Glines was that he was a very disciplined photographer. As a result, he would come up with some amazing photographs. He would set up portraits with backdrops. He would bring lights in the days when everybody was using flashes, so he would end up with something much more interesting than a snapshot," Meskauskas said.

His wife said a highlight of her husband's career at the Examiner was shooting a spread of photographs atop a cable of the San Francisco Bay Bridge for the 50th anniversary of the span in 1986. ''He loved that," she said. "That was his favorite assignment."

He left the newspaper in 1989, and the couple moved to Aberdeen, Wash., where he opened his own photography studio. The ill-fated venture was felled after four years, however, by a bird and the demise of the logging industry on which the area's economy depended. ''The spotted owl became an endangered species, and they closed the timber forests," his wife said. "Nobody could afford pictures. It was really poor timing on our part."
The couple came back East to Connecticut, where Glines became director of photography for Score baseball cards, assigning photographers to take pictures of rookie players.

In 1996, the couple moved to Matawan, where Glines was working on his final photographic initiative when he died. His wife said he set out to photograph a series of ordinary people "who make New Jersey special" - people like a single mother who worked on a bomb squad and a woman who ran a hotdog stand at the Jersey Shore for generations. ''This was just his own project and his hope was that when he got 50 of them, he would exhibit them in public spaces," she said.

In a memoir he was writing, the love Glines had for photojournalism shines through. ''Life from behind a camera allowed for an opportunity to participate in people's lives," he wrote. "I shared in their joy as well as their sorrows, silently up close and somewhat vicariously."

Fran Ortiz

Article in San Francisco Chronicle
By Patricia Yollin

Consummate craftsman. Mentor to generations of students. Renaissance man. And just a "really classy guy."

That's how people describe Fran Ortiz, a longtime San Francisco Examiner photojournalist who retired in 1995. He died on Wednesday, four days after undergoing surgery for colon cancer, at the age of 75.

"I am especially taken by the variety and quality of Fran Ortiz's work," legendary photographer Ansel Adams once wrote. "To maintain such a consistently excellent output is, indeed, an achievement."

Mr. Ortiz's range and versatility can be seen in work now on display at San Francisco Exposure Gallery: In 1960, poet Robert Frost writes at his desk. In 1978, the mist shrouds towering redwoods. In 1981, it's midnight in Moscow. In 1997, clouds billow over the hills of Wildcat Canyon.

Pensive portraits of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, singer Peggy Lee, photographer Richard Avedon and opera star Luciano Pavarotti share a stillness that makes the viewer feel very much alone with them.

"I have always loved the camera's unique ability to capture time in an instant and freeze it for a lifetime," Mr. Ortiz once said.

Born in June 1931, Francisco Ortiz grew up in Vallejo and starred on the high school football team. In 1962, he arrived at the San Francisco Examiner and is believed to be the first black photographer at a major Bay Area newspaper.

"In the early 1960s here, that was a really hard thing to be," said Chronicle photographer Mark Costantini. "But he would never complain about the battles he fought." Mr. Ortiz was Costantini's teacher at San Francisco State, colleague at the Examiner and neighbor in Kensington. "He was just masterful, both technically and emotionally," Costantini said.

Mr. Ortiz, whose work also appeared in Time, Life and several other publications, retired from the Examiner 12 years ago, but he never stopped taking pictures. However, his interest shifted from portraiture to landscape work.

W. Eugene Smith was his favorite photographer, followed by Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham.

"Fran realized a photo should be made and not taken," said Chronicle photographer Kim Komenich, who worked with Mr. Ortiz at the Examiner. "He was very meticulous. He based his entire way of seeing on the idea that the negative is the score and the print is the performance." "Above all, though, he was a mentor," said Komenich, a Pulitzer Prize winner. "He really wanted to make sure you realized it was a lot more than a job. It was an opportunity for you to learn something and then try to educate people with your pictures."

Mr. Ortiz was a master carpenter who built his own darkroom and 4-by-5 wooden field camera. He loved to cook and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of classical music -- he always celebrated Beethoven's birthday and saw the intricacies of music and photography as similar in many ways.

Chronicle reporter Carl Nolte taught with Mr. Ortiz at San Francisco State. Sometimes they'd take students on picnics and camping trips to the Russian River or Angel Island. "He could teach people things and they didn't even know it," recalled Nolte, who also got to see Mr. Ortiz in action when the Chronicle and Examiner were pursuing the same story. "Fran was always formidable competition, and he had that way of making difficult things look easy," Nolte said. "He'd ease up, smile that little smile, and boom, he'd beat your sorry tail."

Retired Examiner reporter Larry D. Hatfield met Mr. Ortiz in 1970. They collaborated on many stories and shared countless drinks at the old M&M Tavern, down the street from the paper. "He was probably the person I admired most in journalism," Hatfield said. "Not just for his talent but for who he was." He only saw Mr. Ortiz get angry once. During contract negotiations, a management representative proposed that reporters be allowed to shoot photographs. "He said, `It's not that hard to take a picture. You just point and shoot,' " Hatfield recalled. "I thought Fran was going to go across the table at him."

Chronicle photographer Katy Raddatz, who began working with Mr. Ortiz at the Examiner in 1975, said, "There was never, never, ever any hurry about Fran. He just luxuriated in the beauty of the world. And he cared about every single thing that he shot."

That caring is reflected in Mr. Ortiz's favorite quote, framed on his bookcase, from fabled photographer Yousuf Karsh: "When aspiring young photographers ask me for counsel, I suggest they first become students of the humanities, that they fill their lives with more than just technical information about the inner workings of the camera. To make enduring photographs, it is far more important to know about the inner workings of the human mind and soul, for the heart and mind are the true lens of the camera."

Catherine Ortiz said her husband also kept the quote on a piece of paper in his wallet. "He had it with him all the time," she said.
In addition to his wife of 25 years, Mr. Ortiz is survived by a sister, Carmen Ortiz of Richmond; daughters Vicky Hurd of Sacramento, Laura Ortiz of Davis and Jennifer Ortiz of Vacaville; son Michael Ortiz of Seattle; and five grandchildren.

Joe Rosenthal

Joe Rosenthal was posthumously awarded a Navy medal for distinguished public service Friday. Presenting the medal to Rosenthal's daughter, Anne Rosenthal, and son, Joseph Rosenthal, Jr., along with a pair of flags from the Marine Corps War Memorial, inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Mike Lehnert said the iconic photograph still inspired generations of Marines.

Rosenthal, who was 94 when he died on Aug. 20, created "a true representation of the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity and death," Lehnert said.
Other Marines, fellow Pulitzer Prize winners and family members also tried capturing in words what Rosenthal's most famous work caught with the click of his shutter on Feb. 23, 1945, as a 33-year-old combat photographer for The Associated Press.
With the black-and-white image projected on a screen, former White House photographer David Hume Kennerly read tribute letters from two former presidents who served during World War II, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. Bush, who recalled seeing the flag-raising photo in the newspaper as a Navy pilot, said that without the shot of pride it instilled, the war might have dragged on even longer. "I wonder if Joe fully appreciated what this photograph meant, and what it still means to the American people," Bush wrote. Kennerly said that even though Rosenthal disliked the limelight and humbly continued working as a photojournalist for 33 years after the war, his mentor's "one iconic tableau, frozen in time" cast a big shadow. "That picture has been there at every stage of my career, whispering in my ear, 'You can shoot far bigger and far better,'" he said. "It is the Gettysburg Address of photos. ... That photo hangs in the hearts of us all."

Ret. U.S. Marine Lt. Gen. Larry Snowden speaks at Marine memorial service. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Pulitzer Prize-winning photographers, from left to right, Associated Press photographer Reed Saxon; Associated Press photographer Nick Ut; San Francisco Chronicle photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice; former United Press International photographer David Hume Kennerly; and retired Associated Press photographer Sal Veder, pose with a photo of Rosenthal after U.S. Marine Memorial service. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Anne Rosenthal, left, daughter of Joe Rosenthal, receives an American flag from U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. Mike Lehnert during a U.S. Marine memorial service. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

U.S. Marine memorial for Rosenthal. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Joe Rosenthal, The Associated Press photographer who won a Pulitzer Prize for his immortal image of World War II servicemen raising an American flag over battle-scarred Iwo Jima, has died. He was 94. He was found dead at about 10:45 a.m. Sunday in his bed at his home in the Atria Tamalpais Creek assisted living center in Novato. He died of natural causes, said his daughter, Anne Rosenthal. "He was a good and honest man, he had real integrity," she said.

Rosenthal's iconic photo, shot on Feb. 23, 1945, became the model for the Iwo Jima Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The memorial, dedicated in 1954 and known officially as the Marine Corps War Memorial, commemorates the Marines who died taking the Pacific island in World War II. The photo was listed in 1999 at No. 68 on a New York University survey of 100 examples of the best journalism of the century. The image is still regarded as a symbol of the fighting spirit of the Marine Corps.

It shows the second raising of the flag that day on Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island. The first flag had been deemed too small. "What I see behind the photo is what it took to get up to those heights - the kind of devotion to their country that those young men had, and the sacrifices they made," Rosenthal once said. "I take some gratification in being a little part of what the U.S. stands for." He was 33-years-old at the time.

The small island of Iwo Jima was a strategic piece of land 750 miles south of Tokyo, and the United States wanted it to support long-range B-29 bombers and a possible invasion of Japan. On Feb. 19, 1945, 30,000 Marines landed on the southeast coast. Mount Suribachi, at 546 feet the highest point on the island, took four days for the troops to scale. In all, more than 6,800 U.S. servicemen died in the five-week battle for the island, and the 21,000-man Japanese defense force was virtually wiped out.
When Rosenthal and a squad of Marines climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi on the fifth day of fighting, he was disappointed to find a small American flag already flying over the 546-foot volcano's summit. He missed the picture of the first flag-raising a few hours earlier, but then he saw five Marines and a corpsman hoisting another, larger flag that could be seen all over the 7 1/2-square-mile island. It was that flag-raising, caught at high noon in 1/400 of a second, that electrified the nation and won the Pulitzer Prize for photography in 1945.

Ten years after the flag-raising, Rosenthal wrote that he almost didn't go up to the summit when he learned a flag had already been raised. He decided to go up anyway, and found servicemen preparing to plant the second, larger flag. "Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you got a great shot. You don't know. Millions of Americans saw this picture five or six days before I did, and when I first heard about it, I had no idea what picture was meant." He recalled that days later, when a colleague congratulated him on the picture, he thought he meant another, posed shot he had taken later that day, of Marines waving and cheering at the base of the flag.

He added that if he had posed the flag-raising picture, as some skeptics have suggested over the years, "I would, of course, have ruined it" by choosing fewer men and making sure their faces could be seen. Standing near Rosenthal was Marine Sgt. Bill Genaust, the motion picture cameraman who filmed the same flag-raising. He was killed in combat just days later. A frame of Genaust's film is nearly identical to the Rosenthal photo.

The AP photo quickly became the subject of posters, war-bond drives and a U.S. postage stamp. The Pulitzer Committee in 1945 described the photo as "depicting one of the war's great moments," a "frozen flash of history." The picture was used as an inspirational symbol for a War Bond drive in 1945 that raised $26.3 billion. Altogether, Rosenthal thinks he made less than $10,000 from the picture.

The picture was an inspiration for Thomas E. Franklin of The Record of Bergen County, N.J., who took the photo of three firefighters raising a flag amid the ruins of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Franklin said he instantly saw the similarities with the Iwo Jima photo as he looked through his lens. Franklin's photo, distributed worldwide by the AP, was a finalist in 2002 for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photography.

Rosenthal photographed Gen. Douglas MacArthur's Army fighting in the jungles of New Guinea. He cruised into battle in the South Pacific aboard a cruiser, a battleship and an aircraft carrier. He flew with Navy dive-bombers attacking enemy targets in the Japanese-occupied Philippines. He hit the beaches with the first waves of Marines landing under fire on the islands of Guam, Peleliu, Angaur and Iwo Jima.

Rosenthal left the AP later in 1945 to join the San Francisco Chronicle, where he worked as a photographer for 35 years before retiring in 1981. "He was short in stature but that was about it. He had a lot of nerve," said John O'Hara, a retired photographer who worked with Rosenthal at the San Francisco Chronicle. O'Hara said Rosenthal took special pride in a certificate naming him an honorary Marine and remained spry and alert well into his 90s.

Rosenthal's famous picture kept him busy for years, and he continued to get requests for prints decades after the shutter clicked. In his retirement, Rosenthal spent much of his time organizing his papers and photographs and reading the news and World War II history with a thick magnifying glass. His knowledge of the Pacific war was vast and personal. He kept a framed certificate declaring him an honorary Marine, which he said was his proudest possession.

"He was the best photographer," said friend and fellow Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Nick Ut of The Associated Press, who said he spoke with Rosenthal last week. "His picture no one forgets. People know the photo very well." Ut's 1972 image of a little girl, naked and screaming in agony as she flees a napalm bomb attack during the Vietnam War, stoked anti-war sentiment. But Rosenthal's photo helped fuel patriotism in the United States. "People say to me, yours is so sad. You see his picture and it shows how Americans won the war," Ut said. Rosenthal was born in 1911 in Washington, D.C.

He took up photography as a hobby. As the Depression got under way, Rosenthal moved to San Francisco, living with a brother until he found a job with the Newspaper Enterprise Association in 1930. In 1932, Rosenthal joined the old San Francisco News as a combination reporter and photographer. "They just told me to take this big box and point the end with the glass toward the subject and press the shutter and `We'll tell you what you did wrong,'" he said. After a short time with ACME Newspictures in San Francisco in 1936, Rosenthal became San Francisco bureau chief of The New York Times-Wide World Photos. Rosenthal began working for the AP in San Francisco when the news cooperative bought Wide World Photos. After a stint in the Merchant Marine, he returned to the AP and was sent to cover battle areas in 1944. His first assignment was in New Guinea, and he also covered the invasion of Guam before making his famous photo on Iwo Jima.

Rosenthal was president of the San Francisco-Oakland Newspaper Guild in 1951, twice president of the San Francisco Press Club, and three times president of the Bay Area Press Photographers Association.

In addition to his daughter, Rosenthal is survived by his ex-wife Lee Rosenthal, his son Joseph J. Rosenthal Jr., and their families

Henry Au

A longtime staff photographer for the now defunct Sacramento Union, passed away on Saturday in Sacramento.

Former co-worker Bryan Patrick , now a staff photographer for the Sacramento Bee, remembers Henry as a quiet guy who didn't bring attention to himself and was the one you didn't see but always got the shot. Henry shot everything with a smile and probably the hardest worker on staff said Patrick.

He retired from the Sacramento Union about 20 years ago. His son, H. Lorren Au Jr., followed him into the business and is now is a staff photographer for the Orange County Register. He is also survived by his other son, Rick, and daughters Arlane and Cindy and 12 grandchildren. His wife, Mary, passed away six years ago.

No services are planned.

Jon Johnson

Some of the winners of this year's SFBAPPA's 32nd Annual News Photo and Television Competition will be donating their prize money to the family of freelance photographer John “Jon” R. Johnson, who was killed on Saturday in Elk Grove.

Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. on Monday at Sacramento Central Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 6045 Camellia Ave., Sacramento. Just off Highway 50 off of Howe and Fair Oaks Blvd., near Sacramento State University.

Condolences can be sent to:
Karen Johnson
c/o Velma Wilson (friend of family)
3917 Bristlewood Way
Sacramento, CA 95823

Velma Wilson, who has been acting as spokeswoman, can be reached at 916.825.5189

By Robert D. Davila
Sacramento Bee Staff Writer

John R. Johnson succeeded as a freelance cameraman in the competitive world of broadcast news with a keen eye for stories, a warm smile and a soft spot in his heart for needed children.

He was an eyewitness to major news events as a photojournalist for more than two decades at Northern California television stations. He mingled with NBA players and made high-profile connections as a camera operator at Sacramento Kings games for Maloof Sports & Entertainment.

But his passion was bringing attention to the smallest people in crisis. He helped start the Assist One Foundation, a charity established to film personal stories about children waiting for adoption. He wanted to tour the Gulf Coast to report on children orphaned by Hurricane Katrina. His biggest dream was to travel to Africa to document the devastation of AIDS on children there.

Johnson was working on plans to go to Botswana this spring when he was killed in a shooting spree Saturday in Elk Grove that left three others wounded, including the gunman. He was 46.

“John just loved kids” his wife Karen Johnson said in an interview at their Elk Grove home Monday. “His mission was to tell people about children who need somebody. His motto was: There are no unwanted children, only unfound families.”

The slaying stunned colleagues in the TV industry, who mourned a dedicated coworker and cheerful, fun-loving friend, Johnson, who also spelled his first name “Jon” sometimes worked on staff but mostly enjoyed the nomadic independence of a freelance cameraman whose skilled were always in demand at local stations, including Sacramento and Bay Area broadcasters. He freelanced most recently to KMAX and KTXL in Sacramento and Bay Area station KTVU.

He was a “huge sports fan” who enjoyed Kings games and always wore a Denver Broncos hat, Channel 40 (KTXL) sports director Jim Crandell said. Johnson, who played football in high school and college, expertly anticipated game plays and camera angles, Crandell said.

Others recalled a gregarious co-worker who frequently lightened the stress of deadlines with booming laughter and a warm smile. Many said Johnson was a generous veteran who frequently took newcomers under his wing, offering tips on everything from camera angles to career moves.

“I'm a new photographer here, and he was good to me and very helpful,” Channel 19 (KUVS) camera operator Felix Mendoza said.

Born in 1960, Johnson was raised by sharecroppers in a blended family of 112 children in Helena, Ark. His father died when he was 12, and his family eventually moved to California and settled in Oakland. His family said he attended several Northern California colleges and earned a bachelor's degree in radio-TV-film.

He worked at several TV stations in Northern California, covering general assignments and sports. He polished his skills with a variety of tasks, including camera operator and truck engineer.

“When you're at a little tiny TV Station, everybody has to work closely and pitch in,” said Meslissa Chacon, a Channel 3 (KCRA) assignments editor who worked with Johnson at a NBC affiliate in Chico. “He was just this happy, happy man who loved his work and would do anything.”

By the time he came to Sacramento in the mid-1990s, Johnson largely had established a successful freelance career. He gained lifelong friends while working for almost every station in Sacramento. He also covered the Kings for 16 years as a camera operator.

“He used to be at practically every game,” team owner Joe Maloof said, recalling Johnson as “nice, soft-spoken. Just always smiling.”

Meanwhile,, Johnson pursued his passion for helping children in need of adoption or foster homes. He was inspired by help young people by his own childhood experiences of poverty and losing his father, his wife said.

He helped launch the Assist One Foundation, which raised money to film profiles of orphans. The charity produced several stories but ran into a roadblock over confidentiality issues, Karen Johnson said.

Most recently, Johnson turned to attention helping the smallest victims of Hurricane Katrina and AIDS in Africa.

“He would see teenagers and children in trouble with drugs or prostitution when he was working, and it really hurt his heart,” Karen Johns said. “He really just wanted every child to be wanted, loved and cared for.”

Survived by his wife, Karen Johnson of Elk Grove; daughter, Tanneria Johnson of Grand Junction, Colo.; son Johnny Ray Johnson Jr. of Susanville; stepson, Tristan Gardner, of Elk Grove; mother Florestine Johnson of Oakland and sister, Lula Johnson of Oakland.

Special thanks to Mark Morris, of the Sacramento Bee.

Carol Ann Nystuen Ivie

of Menlo Park, the Woodside County Almanac's staff photographer for 29 years, died June 4, 2006 of a massive heart attack. She was 76.

Carol was a Woodside homemaker, whose hobby was taking and developing photos, when she was hired in October 1976.

She was always on the scene with her camera: at Little League games, high school football games, May Day, the Junior Riders Rodeo, the Portola Valley picnic, Filoli garden parties, photographing the events in our communities. She gave up many of her weekends to capture the lives of others on film according to her editor. People would often stop her and say, "You took my picture 10 years ago," or "I love the photo of my son you took when he was in kindergarten."

As her co-workers will attest, Carol was pleasant, dependable and cooperative to work with. She always showed up and was always on time. "Carol Ivie was the heart and soul of the Almanac, along with the other veterans on the staff," said Almanac Managing Editor Richard Hine. "The Almanac will never be the same without her. She was a goodwill ambassador for the Almanac, getting to know hundreds of people in the community, their friends and family over three decades. She will be greatly missed, not only by the Almanac, but by many people in the community," he said.

In recent years, she made the transition to digital photography and learned how to transfer photos to a computer and archive them.

Carol is survived by her three children, Deborah Ivie of Aptos, Daniel Ivie of Menlo Park, and Rebecca Ivie of Annacortes, Washington.

The family prefers memorials be made to Wildlife Rescue, 4000 Middlefield Road, Building V, Palo Alto, CA 94303.

From Woodside County Almanac

Robert "Bo" Keller

Freelance video photographer Robert "Bo" Keller died early Sunday morning, April 23, 2006 of pneumonia after a long battle with cancer. Two of his sons were by his bedside at his death.
Bo worked most recently for KGO and KRON. He lived in Redwood City.

In lieu of flowers people are asked to contribute to an account for Bo's children. Family and friends are trying to collect enough money to keep the young children in school and take care of their expenses.
Account name: Kevin Keller (Bo’s son)
Bank: Wells Fargo Bank
Account #: 2424248694

Mike Phillips

A key technical advisor for Nikon Professional Services, died at his San Francisco home on January 9, 2006 . He was 60 years old. His body was found by a NPS worker at his home after failing to appear at the booth for Nikon at the annual Apple MacWorld Conference. It was reported that he had some health issues for the past several years.

He spent his entire professional career with Nikon, starting with the company in 1970. In addition to acting as liaison between Nikon and professional photographers, he was often asked by Nikon to shoot major events such as the Olympics, World Series, Super Bowls, Kentucky Derbies, Cape Canaveral launches and many more. He helped hundreds of photographers in both camera and lens equipment loaners and technical assistance. He also had a vast knowledge of every generation of Nikon cameras as well as digital photography information.

Mike was a long-time major supporter of the San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association. He was instrumental in getting Nikon to donate a Nikon camera as the award for the Greg Robinson Memorial Student Photographer of the Year Award since its inception. He also was responsible for the donation of thousands of dollars of Nikon ware for door prizes at various SFBAPPA events as well as sponsoring numerous luncheons. Mike was also a speaker at every annual SFBAPPA Digital Workshop.

A native of San Francisco, he attended college at U.C. Davis and San Jose State University. He is survived by his mother, Marie Phillips Japs of Davis; his sister Suzanne Finigan of San Francisco; his brother Kirk Phillips and nephew Collin, both of Northern California.

There will be no formal service planned at this time. A wake is pending. At his request, any memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choice.

San Francisco Chronicle contributed to this story.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod, a San Francisco newspaperman for four decades and a guy with the ability to make everyone smile, died early Tuesday of lung cancer at his Antioch home. He was 59.

McLeod, who never smoked, worked as a photographer and photo editor at the San Francisco Examiner and The Chronicle until his retirement a few months ago.

He joined the Examiner in September 1967 as a copy boy, back in the days before computers or digital cameras when newspapers were printed on rumbling presses using lead type produced by clattering linotype machines.

Coming to the paper shortly after spending about a year at San Francisco State, McLeod's job was to jump when a reporter or editor shouted "Boy - COPY!" and run the freshly typed or edited story to the next person on the newsroom production line.

"The newsroom was like those Jack Webb movies, like Humphrey Bogart movies,'' McLeod recalled during an interview at his home last week. "The guys wore hats, like in the movies, Indiana Jones hats. They all wore white shirts and ties, but the ties were never tied, and the sleeves were rolled up. There was only one gal reporter. Everyone smoked at their desk and kept a bottle in the desk. It was grand."

McLeod's tenure as a copy boy lasted five years. All the while, he pined for a shot as a staff photographer, he said. Finally, he got his chance when the Examiner publisher at the time decided he'd rather give a new staff opening to his hardworking copy boy. McLeod recalled that getting the job was one of the best days of his life, and even decades later, considered being a "shooter" one of the best jobs in the world.

"Once I got into photo, I was home,'' he said.

McLeod's interest in photography began when he was growing up in Daly City. His father died when he was 12, and his older brother, George, bought him a Brownie Hawkeye camera. The boy took photos of everything, but with his dad gone and his mom a maid at the local Mission Bell Motel, they could ill afford to process all the pictures at a commercial photo lab. The youngster then built a small darkroom in a basement closet.

"I just watched that image come up on the negative paper, and it was magic,'' McLeod said, smiling at the memory.

As a general assignment photographer for most of his four decades, McLeod memorialized the Bay Area in events big and small.

He was the first to photograph Patty Hearst after her release from jail, and he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his images in a 1995 series called "The Caregivers." It was a project he completed with his wife, Beth Witrogen McLeod, who worked at the Examiner as a copyeditor and reporter. But McLeod's favorite photos were of ballet dancers, from budding ballerinas to stars like Baryshnikov and Nureyev. He donated more than a thousand photographs that he took over the decades to the San Francisco Ballet archive, his wife said.

"Bob was a joy to work with and we will miss him sorely. His razor-sharp wit and his love of photography made him one of the most endeared characters in the newsroom. The Chronicle has suffered a great loss," said Chronicle Director of Photography Randy Greenwell.

"Bob's passion for life and his big heart were reflected in the amazing quality and texture of his work,'' said Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein, who had also worked with McLeod at the Examiner. "His passing creates an inconsolable absence for his family, friends and colleagues. And the world of photojournalism will be less rich and interesting without him."

McLeod's biggest talent may have been his ability to get along with just about anyone. A big man with a ruddy complexion, beard and impressive silhouette, McLeod reminded some of Santa, a comparison made more apt by his perennial good cheer and good humor.

"He was so profoundly cheerful that it was impossible to be unhappy in his presence,'' said Bob Stephens, a longtime buddy who was the best man at his wedding. "He kept a very spontaneous, youthful spirit all his life."

His affable, easygoing manner and his instinct for news made him a natural choice when it came time for the Examiner to name a new director of photography in 1989.

"I remember the AME (Assistant Managing Editor) of Graphics was walking him around the room, introducing him as the new Director of Photography,'' said Paul Chinn, a photographer who used to lobby McLeod for a job when he was a 17-year-old kid, and finally got hired during McLeod's tenure as editor. "He was so proud. He was so proud."

His promotion was guaranteed after his performance during the Loma Prieta earthquake, several colleagues recalled. He was serving as the interim photo editor at the time, and all his photographers were at Candlestick Park for Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A's. After the quake hit, and with no working phones in the newsroom, McLeod ran down to the company parking lot, heaved himself into one of the cars and got on a walkie-talkie to send his staff all over the Bay Area.

Between assignments, McLeod kept colleagues amused with his wickedly funny quips and practical jokes. Back when he was a copy boy, retired Chronicle photographer Chris Hardy recalls, the chief copyboy hated the smell of French fries so much that they were banned from the building. Naturally, McLeod couldn't help but attach French fries to the bottom of the guy's chair.

Photoshop, a software program for editing photos, was often his accomplice. McLeod was forever superimposing photographs of editors' heads onto various celebrities, politicians, and animals.

McLeod was also Mr. Gadget, recalled Stephens, who shared his buddy's love for the latest electronics. McLeod was the first in the newsroom to buy a Sony Walkman, the first to buy the sleek Palm V, the first to buy an iPod, colleagues recalled. His home sported the biggest projection televisions made, and his bookcases were filled with a vast collection of VHS tapes, laserdiscs and DVDs -- especially of "Star Trek" and "Star Wars." Already the owner of two Apple laptops, he felt life was incomplete without being the owner of the new Titanium model. "If it ran on batteries, that's all that mattered,'' said Chinn.

Even in his final weeks, McLeod surrounded himself with his toys. Earplugs to his cell phone were tucked in his ear. His laptop was at his side. And all around the bed were at least a half-dozen remote controls, for everything from his TV to his stereo to the DVD to who knows what else.

A few days ago, only eight months after his diagnosis, McLeod had to have a hospital bed moved into the bedroom as hospice care took over. Even then, McLeod saw the bright side, playing with the bed's remote as it zigged him up and down. "I believe he died with his finger on the remote control on the bed," his wife said.

In addition to his wife of 25 years and his brother, McLeod is survived by his sister, Patricia Perez of South San Francisco.

A funeral will not be held. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

The family requests donations in McLeod's memory be sent to:
Hospice and Palliative Care of Contra Costa
2051 Harrison St.
Concord, CA 94520

Condolences can se sent to:
Beth Witrogen Mcleod
4418 Deermeadow Way
Antioch, CA 94531

Charles Monroe Rogers

A longtime Modesto Bee photographer and Channel 13 cameraman and photojournalist, died earlier in December in Southern California. He was 81. Rogers, once called a "true man of adventure" by a newspaper colleague, came to Modesto and The Bee in 1949, just after graduating from the University of Colorado.

Former Bee photographer Forrest G. Jackson Jr. remembered Rogers as a good photographer and great guy. "A great punster if you fed him a straight line," Jackson said. "He was one of the first in town to have a Volkswagen Bug, and people were always amazed to see him get his tall frame out of that car." Rogers' photography reflected his life. "He liked to share his new interests with the readers," Jackson said. 'When he took up scuba diving, we ran pictures of his trips."

Al Golub, former Bee chief photographer remembered Rogers, "Chuck was a true leader. He set the example for me to follow. After hiring me in 1966, I quickly learner from both Chuck and Forrest the principles of photojournalism. Chuck had incredible charm and used it to relate to his subjects. His images showed his magic of relationship. Chuck taught me to learn and study about everything around us. He pushed me to become more athletic, so if I like the mountains, I should hike up there and get the experience first hand. Chuck's charm and sense of humor was legendary. He will be missed but his friendly sprit lives on in all of us that learned from him."

As a photographer, he covered John and Robert Kennedy campaigning in the valley, and Ronald Reagan before he became governor. When he moved to Sacramento's Channel 13 in 1970, he would be part of the coverage of the Patty Hearst kidnapping.

Friend and fellow pilot Lynn Russell remembered Rogers' sense of daring at an air show. Russell wanted to ride the outside of an airplane on the tail instead of the wing, and Rogers agreed to help his friend by trying the new method first. "Chuck rode it first, like a horse, with a parachute on," Russell recalled. "He did a loop and came back and said I wouldn't have to hang on. The centrifugal force would keep me there. We went out, and I did three loops without a parachute."

He served as a radar operator, bombardier and navigator during World War II and Korea. He became a pilot and enjoyed sky diving after his military service. He also was a frequent contributor to the 'Our Turn' feature in The Bee.
Rogers was born July 17, 1924, in Minneapolis. He graduated from Bexley High School in Ohio.

He is survived by his wife, Jackie Hazard Rogers of Murrieta, and his children, Roanne Rogers-Lentz of Carlsbad, Robert Rogers of Eureka, Carlos Rogers of Sacramento and Ted Rogers of Roberts Ferry, and stepdaughter Cheri Alcaraz of Lancaster.

By Roger W. Hoskinsbee
Staff Writer
Modesto Bee
www.modbee.com

If you would like to send a condolence:
Jackie Hazard Rogers
30328 Mondavi Circle
Murietta, CA 92563

James D. Wilson

Long-time San Francisco photographer for Newsweek Magazine, passed away at his home in Oakland on Nov. 30, 2005. Wilson, 70, died of lymphoma.

His photographs appeared in Newsweek over the past four decades. He chronicled the cultural, social and political life of California from Governor Pat Brown through the end of the dot.com era. He retired from Newsweek five years ago.

He was born in Oakland and raised in Ogden, Utah. He moved to San Francisco to take a job as a teletype operator at Newsweek. He was also a gifted pianist, collector of first edition novels and enjoyed gardening.

He is survived by his life partner, Sal Archini, five sisters and his Boston terrier, Flo.

Contributions can be made in his honor to:
PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support)
645 Harrison Street, suite 100
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 979-9550

A memorial service was held on December 11.

Metzger, 56, and his wife, Becca, were on Oahu visiting the elder of their two sons, John Jr., an Army specialist who only recently returned to American soil after serving a year in Afghanistan.

Metzger was savoring being with his son, his daughter-in-law and his 15-month-old grandson, Wyatt, when he was bothered by chest pains Monday. His wife said they went to a hospital emergency room in Honolulu, where Metzger was examined and released to resume his vacation.

At about 1 a.m. Wednesday, Becca awoke to find her husband sitting on the floor of their hotel room, gasping for breath before collapsing. Paramedics were unable to revive him.

Shocked colleagues and former employees called the quiet, passionate Metzger a standout among American newspaper photo editors, a man powerfully impressed by the ability of a good picture to tell a story that illuminates what it means to be human.

He won seven regional Photographer of the Year awards before becoming a photo editor and a mentor to younger photographers at a series of newspapers, including the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune, Biddeford (Maine) Journal Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press/Dispatch.

Metzger joined The Press Democrat as director of photography in 1993. Among his charges was staff photographer Annie Wells, whose photos of Santa Rosa firefighters' rescue of a girl caught in a raging creek in 1996 won a Pulitzer Prize. Wells, now a photographer with the Los Angeles Times, said Wednesday, "No one I've worked with had the vision of what a photographer brings to the table that John did.

"Had I not worked with him, I wouldn't be half the photographer I am today," she said.

Catherine Barnett, The Press Democrat's executive editor, said, "John was the consummate picture editor who insisted on a first-rate visual report for this newspaper.

"He directed an award-winning staff with nuanced coaching that coaxed a particular talent from each photographer. His love for journalism is eclipsed only by his deep commitment to his family and his profound pride in his sons."

When Metzger and his wife traveled from their home in Healdsburg to Honolulu last Saturday they hadn't seen their soldier son for more than a year. Metzger was overjoyed to be reunited with John Jr., 21, who recently returned from Afghanistan to Oahu's Schofield Barracks with the Army's 25th Infantry Division.

"At least I got to spend four days with him," John Jr. said by phone from Honolulu.

Becca Metzger said her husband was in bliss as they spent part of Saturday and most of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with John Jr., his wife, Sara, and their toddler son - John and Becca's only grandchild.

Becca Metzger said it is consoling that her husband, who was intensely proud of both of their sons, lived to share those days with John Jr. in Hawaii. And only hours before he was stricken, Metzger had shared a joyful moment by phone with younger son Colin, a 19-year-old Santa Rosa Junior College soccer player who'd told his dad he'd scored the JC's only goal against the semipro Sonoma County Sol.

"I think he was at peace," Becca said of her husband. "I know he was at peace."

Becca met her husband in 1973, when they were working together on a story for National Geographic. At the time, Metzger was studying journalism at the University of Alaska.

Becca said she immediately was impressed, and she remained impressed, by how he loved to shoot pictures of people, pictures that inspired and delighted and informed the readers of a community newspaper.

Early in his career, Metzger became photo editor and mentor to a small staff of photographers at the Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal. One of his charges, Mark Damon, now interim director of photography at the San Jose Mercury News, said Metzger's brilliance and love of community photojournalism turned the Journal into one of the strongest picture newspapers in the nation.

"He loved having the opportunity to get out into the world and let people tell their own stories through him. He saw that as the highest calling of a journalist," Damon said. "John taught me how to be a journalist with a camera," he said. He said Metzger infected many younger photojournalists with the passion for using a camera and a learned eye for "documenting lives in our place and our time, and sharing bits of those lives with anyone who got a chance to see the pictures."

In addition to his wife, sons, daughter-in-law and grandson, Metzger is survived by his parents, John and Evelyn Metzger of Fairport, N.Y.

Services are to be held in Hawaii. Becca Metzger said she expects to have her husband's remains inurned in Hawaii. She said the family will fulfill a wish by Metzger to have ashes scattered in the Adirondacks, not far from where he grew up in upstate New York.

If you would like to send a condolence to the family click on:
http://www.legacy.com/PressDemocrat
then click on "John Metzger"

From Press Democrat reports.