John was born on January 28, 1956 and passed away 1996

 COMMENTS ON FACEBOOK:

 Jon was an exceptional person, and it is a great loss that he is gone. By the way, the full phrase was "Portin de mas que le sabra del nada."

He was brilliant & kind. I miss you my friend

Google can't translate for me, will you please?

Google can't help you here. It was a linguistic parlor trick--it had every quality of language except for meaning. He said it with great fluency, with an impeccable accent, with expression and a sense of import. Gary--like you, I feel his influence to this day. And like both you and Rose, I have missed him very much throughout the years.

Jon and I were best friends from 7th grade when he moved in down the street from me. Went to the same undergraduate school and roomed across the hall from each other at our fraternity. After college I went to NYC and he to northern NJ. Later he moved to Houston and we continued to visit each other. He photographed my wedding in 1989. 

In 1984 he was involved in a crippling motorcycle accident. But even on crutches and a wheelchair, he pursued a career in photography. He continued to travel up to NYC regularly and stayed with me while attending photo seminars.

There were two moments in my life that I was truly speechless. The first was learning we were having twins in 1990, and the second was hearing of Jon's death in 1996. We exchanged letters just previous to it. I know as fact that he thought of his Susquehanna friends as the best, even 20 years after. And I also know he influenced my thinking, even today.