Our Friend and Colleague , Michael Craycraft passed away on Sunday, May 10. In his last few days, Michael received an avalanche of good wishes and kind thoughts. Since i cannot possibly answer each of you in this difficult time, i would like to let everybody know that we were able to read most of the early mails to him and that he was very touched. Thank you all! i believe we show what kind of stuff we are made of in a long illness. Michael was a hero. He had two and a half years of extremely demanding and unpleasant treatment. Michael kept his discomforts and fears to himself and was easy to be around till the end. As many of you know, Michael was a complex man and held strong opinions. "Could" and "might" were not for Michael. Over the course of his illness these sides of his personality melted away, and Michael became even more a friendly and generous person and also a wise one. The old California hippie in him helped him to live in the moment and enjoy the birds, the plants on the balcony, and the view over the city. And he loved a good rug till the end. He spent the last days at home looking at and fondling the weave of my latest purchases. i hope that those of us who will meet in Dedham in 2 weeks for arts east remember that it was Michael who set up the first arts in San Francisco. Michael put an enormous amount of his time and energy unselfishly into helping our difficult rug trade to revive. Michael was a great guy. He will be missed.