I am writing on a cell phone from Ecuador, so please forgive my brevity. My first in-depth interaction with Bert Karon came at the ICSPP conference in 2007, where I interviewed him for my first film, Take These Broken Wings. Bert was brilliant. He was funny, quick, generous of spirit, and exceptionally insightful. Halfway through my interview with him I knew I had a film — and I told him so. He was the consummate professional I was seeking, a clinician who could show through real experience that people diagnosed with schizophrenia could recover without psychiatric drugs. However, shortly after that interview Bert got into his horrible car accident and we didn’t resume contact until after the film was completed and public. By that point I was nervous about what he would think of it, because in one scene I (in an attempt at humor) inserted an animated halo over his head, and several people who respected Bert found this offensive. Well, Bert contacted me immediately upon seeing the film and told me he found it hilarious — and said he loved the film. I was elated. He also added some wisdom, and I’ll do my best to paraphrase him: “Humor, when used wisely, so often gets underrated in life and clinical work — especially in working with people with with serious mental health problems. I’m all for it!” I never forgot that — almost as if he really were a little angel on my shoulder. So Bert, I want to thank you for all you shared with me — and with the world. You were a true original.