Jim flips through the album on the man behind the camera of some of the most famous pictures of Uncle Walt.
This is definitely not a good start to a new year. Shortly after writing a tribute to the passing of Ron Dominquez, another important person in the history of Disneyland that I had the honor of meeting years ago has died.
Renie Bardeau died of kidney failure on January 4, 2021 after having recently contracted COVID-19. It was suspected that the added stress of being infected by that virus weakened his ability to fight. He was 86 years old and had spent nearly four decades being a publicity photographer at Disneyland.
[Jim] wrote about Renie Bardeau back in 2012 and was lobbying for him to be made a Disney Legend especially since many less deserving recipients with fewer contributions to the Walt Disney Company had been given the honor.
He was a very generous, funny, modest man who would have never promoted himself for such an award. He loved what he did and enjoyed sharing stories about his work. [Jim] got an opportunity to talk with him in 2005 and while many of the stories he told me he later told to others [Jim] thought some MousePlanet readers might enjoy hearing them and learning a little bit more than what has appeared elsewhere.
[…]
