Will Barnet with Joe DiMaggio & JoAnne Kalish Naples Museum of Art © 2007 Mike Peters

As a man or woman makes the journey from birth to death along the way they meet people who change their life. It’s  given with our parents and family. There are maybe 8 or 10 people who radically changed the direction of my life other than my parents of course .  Today I will just talk about one –  Will Barnet who passed away November 13 at age 101.

My partner JoAnne Kalish had an assignment to photograph Will and she did these amazing and iconic portraits of Will and they became close. One day Will invited us to lunch and on that day I learned more about art, art appreciation and art history in a very short period of time then any other time in my life.

There will only be one Will Barnet  – He was a warm, kind, generous, exceptionally talented, and a humble human being.  I’ve been known to say the greatest things in life are free. On New’s Years Day 2012 Will Barnet gave us a million dollar gift by merely calling to wish us a Happy New Year.  My God does it get better than that?