Ron hasn't had any discussions on TMDB yet, and that's a pity. He's not a household name, nor is he a famous actor. But he was a conceptual artist for many of the science fiction films I've loved, including both Alien and Aliens. What drew me to Ron, besides his enormous talent, is his humor. If you watch interviews from the DVDs for the Alien movies, it's clear that Ron was an affable, humble person who just loved doing what he did.

I've always been more interested in special effects than any other aspect of filmmaking. While I tend to abhor celebrities and celebrity worship, I'm an unabashed fan of the effects guys like Ron. We lost Syd Mead, another giant in the conceptual cinematic artist area recently (December of last year), and I put Ron on his level. While Syd was much more fantastic and had perhaps more talent in the ability to create awe-inspiring artwork, Ron had the nuts-and-bolts approach down pat. You can look at one of Ron's designs and think, "Yeah, that could really work!"

The Guardian created a page filled with images from some of the films Ron worked on. I had no idea, personally, that he'd done work for Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Conan the Barbarian, for instance. I grew up in the age before CGI took over. Industry giants like Stan Winston, Rick Baker, Richard Edlund, Matthew Yuricich, Ray Harryhausen, and Phil Tippett come to mind. Now, you'd be hard-pressed to name any special effects technicians. I put Ron on the same level as any of them and it's sad that he's gone.