[Mark D Segal Silver Member Posts: 951]

New Article Announcements & Discussions

on: July 8, 2023 at 9:36 pm

I met with Stephen a number of times here in Toronto quite some years ago now. I regret that we didn’t manage to see more of each other. I have tremendous respect for Stephen. He’s a warm-hearted gentleman and a truly excellent photographer. I did not know what had become of him until I watched this very moving discussion between Stephen and Kevin. I have an additional perspective on Stephen’s situation because a dear friend from 50 years back is facing similar with not a good prognosis, and he too has enormous courage and resolve. I wish Stephen the best. As we know, some times people beat the odds, and I hope this will be the case for Stephen, both for longevity and whatever quality of life can be retained. I also wish him great success with the book, which indeed is a very considerable undertaking under normal circumstances, let alone these.

Mark

[Kevin Raber Silver Member Posts: 1311]

Re: Salute to Stephen Starkman

Reply #1 on: July 9, 2023 at 10:21 am

Thanks, Mark.  Stephen is an inspiration. His book is a very special insight into his vision.  It was a great video to make, but everytime I watch it I am saddened by what a great person like Stephen is going through.  Sometimes, many times the world just doesn’t seem fair.

Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXL

[Mark D Segal Silver Member Posts: 951]

Re: Salute to Stephen Starkman

Reply #2 on: July 9, 2023 at 10:54 am

That’s true Kevin. At some point in our lives we all need to face the fact of our eventual mortality, but as we know from so many we are familiar with, cancer is a terrible way out and hits people far too early in the cycle of life. It must take heaps of courage and resolve to live through this knowing there isn’t a happy ending. I think Stephen is right that making donations to cancer research is the best thing we can do to help combat this scourge. Treatment improves year by year as research develops new medications and treatments which have improved longevity and cured numerous forms of the disease, but there is obviously a long way to go. Meanwhile I have ordered a copy of Stephen’s book, as it looks to be an inspiration, and I really hope he does well with it. It is really good that you and Stephen were able to collaborate on bringing his case and the book to the fore on PhotoPXL.

[Oliver Ritter-Wolff Silver Member Posts: 198]

Re: Salute to Stephen Starkman

Reply #3 on: July 10, 2023 at 2:41 pm

Of course, the whole thing touches me very much and I take my hat off to Stephen. Not quite two years ago I was in the emergency room of the nearest hospital after severe pain in my ribs. It was Corona time and I was in an isolation ward because I had not yet tested negative. The next day a young female doctor came to me, in a full protective suit, and said “it looks bad you have lung cancer. Get your things in order and say goodbye to your family.”

It was the worst day of my life so far. I just couldn’t believe that as someone who had never smoked, this was going to be the end of me and I wondered how much time I had left to sort out the things that needed to be sorted out.

Many CTs, MRIs, biopsies, etcetera followed. In the end an operation where a lung lobe with a 4x5cm tumor was removed and a subsequent chemotherapy. Fortunately I had only one (recognizable) metastasis and not as initially feared very many of them. After that I went through several months of rehabilitation to slowly get physically fit again. Now two years have passed and so far I am still tumor-free, but statistically the first 5 years remain critical. However, I have the hope to survive them and look at life with somewhat different eyes since then, even though it has become clear to me for the first time that it will end and it is only a question of time when.

To get such a diagnosis like Stephen is extreme. You can’t imagine it if you haven’t experienced it yourself. It took me 5 days to clear my head and until then I didn’t sleep a second.

Therefore, I can only advise everyone to use every day of life as well as possible, even if in the end everyone deals differently with such a situation.

Oliver

https://www.riwodot.de

https://vero.co/riwodot

https://www.instagram.com/riwodot/

[Mark D Segal Silver Member Posts: 951]

Re: Salute to Stephen Starkman

Reply #4 on: July 17, 2023 at 3:44 pm

Several hours ago I received my copy of Stephen’s book. I can only second what Kevin said about it. Texts and images are truly inspirational, the photographs superb, so well matched to the context and the book design and production are first-class. I highly recommend it.

[Mark D Segal Silver Member Posts: 951]

Re: Salute to Stephen Starkman

Reply #5 on: September 9, 2023 at 1:22 pm

Yesterday we received an email from Stephen’s spouse Deb that Stephen passed away on Wednesday, peacefully at home. Our condolences and best wishes go out to Deb and family.

[Oliver Ritter-Wolff Silver Member Posts: 198]

Re: Salute to Stephen Starkman

Reply #6 on: September 9, 2023 at 2:10 pm

Hello Mark,

I am very sorry to hear that. I wish his family my condolences and the necessary strength and power.

Oliver

https://www.riwodot.de

https://vero.co/riwodot

https://www.instagram.com/riwodot/

[Kevin Raber Silver Member Posts: 1311]

Re: Salute to Stephen Starkman

Reply #7 on: September 9, 2023 at 5:21 pm

Yes, I received the sad news.  I put a spot in the post I just put up today.  He was a super nice guy.  He loved photography.  He was one of the good guys.  Go back and watch my interview with him if you haven’t seen it.

Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXL

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