Hey alterna crowd, this is Marlon Smith. Through the years my son Ryan and I have hunted for graybands many, many weeks - about 90 days in the aggregate, and have found 9 gems, including two pairs of matched males/females from Juno Road which I still have. Oh, how we loved the hunting! Sadly, my son Ryan passed away last Friday, October 26, at mile marker 366 on I-80 just east of Wells, Nevada. He was invloved in a single-car rollover. I know that many of you met us hunting there in Texas and we appreciate our experiences with you. We didn't always find the sometimes-elusive creatures the graybanded kings are wont to be, but the anticipation and the thrill of the hunt was always what made it so worthwhile. This father/son connection and tradition leaves sweet memories, and my hunting bud's passing will be a devastating hole in my soul for some time to come. Thanks to Merker, Fraser, Engledorf, Flanagan, Wright, and so many others who gave the humanistic color and texture to the whole experience. Ryan leaves a four year old daughter who lives with her mother and step-father in Las Vegas. I am a religious man, serving now as a stake president (I oversee nine congregations) in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We beleive in the resurrection and know that the grief we now experience will be overshadowed by the eventual joyful reunion of our family unit in eternal realms as we each in our turn pass through the portal way called death.
With sadness,
Marlon Smith
