TOP in the Times

The New York Times published an obituary of Marty Forscher yesterday, written by Margalit Fox. I was pleasantly surprised to see that TOP was cited, and TOP reader Marshall Arbitman's Featured Comment was quoted.

Mike
(Thanks to Will)

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Comments

[Patrick]

Congrats to all concerned, even if a sad underlying story.

[Richard Kevern]

Do other people in NY currently do the sort of job that Marty did?

[Jasiek]

Mike

I think you gonna love that one. Few days ago I went to the camera repair place in my city. This is sort of a local Marty, an old guy, known by every photograpger in the city and around.

When giving him my lens, I asked him about the business. He complained that he has too much work to do. He said "There is work for five people, and I do not have more sons.", and he pointed to two younger men working on cameras in his store. One of them looked to be around 40, the other one way younger.

Somehow, my hearth was way lighter for the next day. Sure, people are passing, but new ones come in to continue what they did.

[Mike Johnston]

"Do other people in NY currently do the sort of job that Marty did?"

Depends what you mean by "the sort of job." There are other camera repair people, yes. Are there any with the sort of prominence in the field that Marty had during the heyday of mechanical cameras? Probably not. For that you'd have to look to Ken Ruth at Bald Mountain, or Harry Fleenor for Rolleis or, for Leicas, Sherry Krauter or Don at DAG (in the U.S.) or Malcolm Taylor (in England)...the list goes on, but many of these folks are individuals with individual interests. There's really nobody else like Mr. Forscher, no, not exactly.

Mike

[Steve Rosenblum]

I would strongly suggest Dave Easterwood
in Chelsea, Michigan. The guy is incredible--honest, very skilled, reasonable, friendly, and he has over 30 years worth of camera parts stored in cabinets "just in case" he may need them some day to repair someone's beloved classic camera. His story is interesting, as well. Once I get through the pile of tasks I have before me I hope to write a profile of him for TOP. He is definitely one of a dying breed.