While writing this obituary about Shamus as an historical figure, I keep thinking of my afternoon in that New York bar in 1990 when I began to know him, not for what he did, but for who he was. Shamus had a marvelous appetite for living. The purity of his pleasure in talking about ideas was infectious. Firmly convinced of the imperfectibility of humankind, he did not in the least exclude himself from that judgement. He equally was assured of the importance of art, and was unshakable in his devotion to it. He was learned and sophisticated, yet never lost his Cagneyesque touch of Yorkville.

Today, it is far easier imagining Shamus in some artists' Valhalla, drinking Johnny Walker Black with Honore Daumier and T.S. Sullivant, than it is to sum up this extraordinary life in fifteen hundred words. What I can tell you is that Shamus was a brilliant moment within our time. He knew his own mind and passionate heart and didn't give a damn if anyone disapproved. I, like many others, loved him for all of this and bid him a fond final adieu.

Mark Langer teaches film at Carleton University in Ottawa Canada. He is a frequent contributor to scholarly journals and a programmer of animation retrospectives. Langer is currently working on a Culhane retrospective for the Ottawa International Animation Festival.