Canute Rex
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2012
- Messages
- 388
- Reaction score
- 270
My old friend Steve Halford, of Wallingford Vermont, died on Saturday after a long illness.
He was an artist in many mediums, most notably raku pottery and pen & ink drawing. He could make sketches worthy of Hogarth with a bottle of ink and a sharpened wooden coffee stirrer. His raku works were exhibited in galleries. He taught art at the local high school for decades.
I met him through Rev War reenacting back in the early 80s. He started in Rev War in His Majesty's 29th Regiment, went on to be an F&I grenadier, and finished up his reenacting as a War of 1812 Inniskilling. His last reenactment was the 200th anniversary of Waterloo on the original site, where he and his crew marched miles in full kit to get there and slept in the open under a tree. He got me back into muzzle loading after a long hiatus. We spent many happy afternoons shooting and trying to figure out whether it was the sights, or us, or the load. He took up the matchlock and the wheellock.
For years he competed in the primitive biathlons around Vermont. You would have seen him in a green 17th c coat with a bandolier of powder bottles over his shoulder.
Being a natural with materials, he built his own early 18th c German matchlock target rifle and then an early 17th c French wheellock.
He was mild mannered, soft spoken, and generous. Although talented, he was humble about his talents. I never heard his voice raised in anger.
When I visited him for the last time in the hospital he knew his time was limited. He chuckled and quoted Frederick the Great's admonition to his troops. "Rascals, do you want to live forever?"
Steve will be profoundly missed by all who knew him.
He was an artist in many mediums, most notably raku pottery and pen & ink drawing. He could make sketches worthy of Hogarth with a bottle of ink and a sharpened wooden coffee stirrer. His raku works were exhibited in galleries. He taught art at the local high school for decades.
I met him through Rev War reenacting back in the early 80s. He started in Rev War in His Majesty's 29th Regiment, went on to be an F&I grenadier, and finished up his reenacting as a War of 1812 Inniskilling. His last reenactment was the 200th anniversary of Waterloo on the original site, where he and his crew marched miles in full kit to get there and slept in the open under a tree. He got me back into muzzle loading after a long hiatus. We spent many happy afternoons shooting and trying to figure out whether it was the sights, or us, or the load. He took up the matchlock and the wheellock.
For years he competed in the primitive biathlons around Vermont. You would have seen him in a green 17th c coat with a bandolier of powder bottles over his shoulder.
Being a natural with materials, he built his own early 18th c German matchlock target rifle and then an early 17th c French wheellock.
He was mild mannered, soft spoken, and generous. Although talented, he was humble about his talents. I never heard his voice raised in anger.
When I visited him for the last time in the hospital he knew his time was limited. He chuckled and quoted Frederick the Great's admonition to his troops. "Rascals, do you want to live forever?"
Steve will be profoundly missed by all who knew him.
