Russ Fairfield has passed

[Charles]

Such a loss. My prayers go out to his family at this difficult time. Always loved watching the CA finish video's. This has helped my variation of the finish. He will be missed.:frown:

 

[DarnBlankExploded]

I saw Russ a couple of years ago at an AAW symposium where he demonstrated making closed end pens with recessed clips, while wearing a tuxedo smock. It is truly noble to freely share one's knowledge. We all should aspire to be the kind of person Russ was.

 

[luke39uk]

Always one to share his knowledge, Russ will be sadly missed. Rest in peace.

 

[johncrane]

Very sad news to here, l will miss Russ! he was a great man with a lot knowledge which he shared to all of us
my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends

 

[witz1976]

Thank you Russ for teaching us all. May you rest in peace.

 

[jttheclockman]

Some people are born to be teachers. and Russ was a natural. He will be missed by alot of people and that is how you know someone is well received in their teachings. His knowledge and talent are well documented as we all will continue to search out on the net his videos and tutorials. They will never outgrow our hobby.

My condolences to the family. Rest in Peace Russ.

 

[rherrell]

R.I.P. my friend.

 

[Rfturner]

He was a great pen maker, he will be missed

 

[johnnycnc]

My thoughts and prayers are with the family.
Rest In Peace, Russ. You will be missed.

 

[Darley]

This is a sad day for me and for all of us pen makers and wood turners, I was speechless when I read early this morning Kurt new on Yahoo penturner, Russ was a easy person to comunicate with and was a very good mentor to me ( and for all of us ).

My thoughts and prayers go out to Gerry and all the Fairfield family.

 

[Steve Busey]

Still digging out from holiday bills, but I just made a contribution to the IAP in memory of Russ (there's nowhere to make that distinction in the PayPal page, but that's what it's for...). Many of Russ's ideas have been discussed, shared, modified and adopted on these pages.

There's a "Support The IAP" button at the top of the page.

 

[Tanner]

Wow, that's sad. I purchased his videos and books when I first started turning. I probably learned the most from Russ. My condolences go out to his family.

 

[scotian12]

We would like to offer our condolences to Russ's family. Russ's contributions to the Penturning groups were very far reaching .He was an inspirations to all of us. Thank you Russ for making our world brighter and more beautiful. Darrell Eisner

 

[onewaywood]

I was so sorry to hear about the death of Russ Fairfield. Although I never
got a chance to meet him in person, his site and videos are what initially
got me started in pen turning several years ago. He was patient and
thorough and his death is a real loss to the turning community.

 

[GaryMGg]

Condolences to Russ' family. A sad loss indeed.

 

[ToddMR]

That is sad news. Russ really helped me get started in 2010 with all of his info and greatly helped me figure out the way for me to do a CA finish best even though I adapted and changed some things. I did not know of him well and never really conversed with him, but whenever I watched his videos I could easily tell he knew what he was doing. Sorry to hear of the loss. I hope his family can reflect back over all he has done and be proud of him as most of you appear to be.

 

[Bree]

Very sad news and a terrible loss to all woodturners. This man more than any other influenced me to become better at making pens and other things. He gave me the confidence to try things I had never done and get them right. I will miss him greatly.

I knew that he was ill and I must have felt his passing deep in my subconscious cuz yesterday for the first time for me I turned an all black Jr. Gent. I guess my heart was telling me something.

Anyhoo... I will keep that pen and always think of Russ when I use it or look at it. Rest in Peace Russ. Thanks for all that you have given us.
:frown::frown::frown:

 

[louie68]

Russ I just like to thank you for sharing your video's I learn so much from them, during these tough times for me December & January I have lost 3 friends and loss my brother of 65 will be bury today. My prayers are with your family, May God Bless You Russ.
Louie

 

[Rangertrek]

Sad news about Russ. :frown: I certainly learned a lot from his tutorials, etc. Nice tribute on the memorial competition, will be looking forward to the details.

 

[shawn394]

This is sad new. I haven't been online for a few days and am just seeing this. I learned a lot from his vieos and web site. He will be greatly missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

 

[airrat]

Wow I just found out about this. I am deeply saddened to hear. I learned from Russ' site and from him here on finishes and adapted them to my style. His information was a great help to me. He will be truly missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

 

[Skye]

Man, that's really a bummer. He was one of the first, first, first penmaking websites I've visited. Had one or two exchanges with him, wish I'd bothered to try a few more. Really an example of a great, selfless, easy going guy. He'll be missed for sure.

 

[khertzog]

By now, I'm sure many of you are aware of the passing of our friend Russ Fairfield. If you hadn't heard, Russ passed away on January 4th after complications from surgery. He was 75 years old and passed away peacefully.

In honor of his many years of contributions to the woodturning and particularly the penturning community, the Principally Pens chapter has created an annual Russ Fairfield Memorial Pen Competition. Details on this can be found at www.principallypens.com. We have also implemented an educational fund that will be funded by contributions made in Russ' name at the request of his wife Gerri.

We are working with his wife to insure that all of Russ' writings, videos, and web materials will have a home and will be available to the woodturning community in an ongoing manner.

Kurt Hertzog

 

[Nickfff]

I have not been IAP in a while as I have been busy with family, job, life etc. I am sorry to hear about Russ passing away. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. Russ and I exchanged emails and he was very kind. He was extremely creative with approach to penmaking (seemed like an engineer at heart). I have visited his website often. I met Russ at the Utah event as well-I bought one of his videos.

These are the times that make me think more about celebrating life and showing appreciation to others.

As a result, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people (so many on IAP) along the way that have been helpful to me in the penmaking journey. Folks on IAP have helped me in: answering many questions, providing tutorials, building custom blanks, helping me in a bind with a customer for material, helping me pack up my booth at a pen show in a remote city, hosting/maintaining this website and on and on....

Thank you to all those that have helped me and others-you are appreciated!

Nick

 

[teefairf]

Thank you, for all of your generous and heartfelt comments. It is overwhelming to read! It is such an honor to my father to hold the Russ Fairfield pen contest. We appreciate your contribution to he and his memory. He loved this craft, he loved sharing it. It brought him such happiness. You woodturners share such a wonderful community. That we all should be so remembered for our gifts.

Teresa (Fairfield) Field

 

[kruger]

toutes mes condoléances à la Famille.Le Monde a perdu un Grand Homme qui savait partager.

all my condolences in the Family.

the world lost a big man who knew how to share.

 

[Tom McMillan]

Russ was indeed an inspiration!! I always perked up when I saw a post from Russ, because I knew it would be from the wisdom of a true professional! The techniques and wisdom he so openly shared have, and will continue to benefit many turners.

 

[TheHeretic]

I hope the family is doing well and knows our prayers are with them.

 

[Scott]

Hi Everybody!

It has been a few weeks since Russ left us. His Wife, Gerry, has read the tributes you all have written here, and she said they made her happy, but they also made her cry.

For his funeral the IAP sent a flower arrangement. Gerry sent me a Thank You card for all of you, and I have scanned it and posted it below. She also sent a picture of Russ they used at his funeral. That is also below. Also, a friend, Dave Howerton, was a neighbor to Russ, and he sent me a picture of Russ that showed him as he really was, and how I will remember him. That is also posted below.

If any of you had wanted to send flowers for Russ's funeral but didn't know where to send them, I'm sure Jeff wouldn't mind some donations to help offset the cost of the flowers we sent for the Association.

And if you are curious about the future of Russ's website and the availability of his videos, we have worked out an arrangement that will insure the future of both. The American Association of Woodturners (AAW) will sponsor his website in the future to make sure nothing is lost. And Kurt Hertzog is helping Gerry to assure the availability of all his current videos. Not only that, but we have found some additional video that Russ shot before he died that we may be able to edit into more videos. We are also looking into developing a master collection of his videos for those who want to make sure they have them all, and for clubs and chapters for their librarys.

Russ was a true friend to penturners around the world, and thankfully now we can be sure this resource will continue on.

Scott.

 

[arioux]

Thanks Jeff, Gerry,Scott, Kurt and all the one that are or will be investing their time and energy to perpetuate Russ's legacy to the turner's community.
Thanks Gerry for the photos, it's now on my shop wall just next to my IAP logo.

 

[redfishsc]

I haven't visited the IAP forum for a while, and did not know that our friend slipped away from us.

I always have, and always will, look up to Russ. He will be sorely missed but he will never be forgotten.

I have one pen in particular that I have here, which I finished using CA/BLO immediately after watching his video. It turned out perfectly. It's the first pen I ever did a successful and nice looking CA finish. I'll always think of Russ when I use that pen.

 

[interwood]

Russ Fairfield Website has been disabled

Hi Everybody at IAP.

Greetings from Western Australia.

I hope that you all had a safe and joyous Christmas.

I have been searching for information from Russ Fairfields website and note that it is still "down, disabled .... gone"

Does anyone know if any progress has been made restoring it to another location please?

Best regards, Chris

Hi Everybody!

It has been a few weeks since Russ left us. His Wife, Gerry, has read the tributes you all have written here, and she said they made her happy, but they also made her cry.

For his funeral the IAP sent a flower arrangement. Gerry sent me a Thank You card for all of you, and I have scanned it and posted it below. She also sent a picture of Russ they used at his funeral. That is also below. Also, a friend, Dave Howerton, was a neighbor to Russ, and he sent me a picture of Russ that showed him as he really was, and how I will remember him. That is also posted below.

If any of you had wanted to send flowers for Russ's funeral but didn't know where to send them, I'm sure Jeff wouldn't mind some donations to help offset the cost of the flowers we sent for the Association.

And if you are curious about the future of Russ's website and the availability of his videos, we have worked out an arrangement that will insure the future of both. The American Association of Woodturners (AAW) will sponsor his website in the future to make sure nothing is lost. And Kurt Hertzog is helping Gerry to assure the availability of all his current videos. Not only that, but we have found some additional video that Russ shot before he died that we may be able to edit into more videos. We are also looking into developing a master collection of his videos for those who want to make sure they have them all, and for clubs and chapters for their librarys.

Russ was a true friend to penturners around the world, and thankfully now we can be sure this resource will continue on.

Scott.

 

[Monty]

Hi Everybody at IAP.

Greetings from Western Australia.

I hope that you all had a safe and joyous Christmas.

I have been searching for information from Russ Fairfields website and note that it is still "down, disabled .... gone"

Does anyone know if any progress has been made restoring it to another location please?

Best regards, Chris

Check out this thread.

 

[sbwertz]

Here is a page with some of his mods
Pen Makers Guild