I had the pleasure of having lunch with Dusty Cohl only twice - both times at Joe's Stone Crab, where everyone treated him like royalty and family - but I will always remember the two occasions fondly.
Cohl, who passed away yesterday at the age of 78 after a long battle with liver cancer, had sought me out to talk about the Floating Film Festival, his very popular brainchild of a film festival on the open sea that sails out of Miami every two years.
I ended up writing a story about the festival, but more importantly, I also ended up making a friend out of Dusty, who was an engaging, witty, vivacious raconteur - as well as one of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic movie buffs I have ever met.
Here is a moving tribute to Dusty by Roger Ebert, who knew him a lot better than I did.
Comments