Last night I received the horrible news that Verne Langdon had died. Verne (born 15 September 1941, Oakland California) was not only a very well known cult monster mask maker, he was also the creator of the legendary LP "An Evening With Boris Karloff" and produced over 30 albums (including his own) in his long career. But, most of all, Verne was my friend. Even though we never met in person, we exchanged long letters and e-mails very frequently. I met Verne via the website he built in honor of his close friend Korla Pandit, the turbanned organist. Verne had taken organ courses with Korla and the two struck up a life-long friendship. Since I was most interested in Korla Pandit both as a person and as a musician, I contacted Verne. We became close cross-Atlantic friends. Quite a few years ago, Verne handed over the Korla website to me, which touched me deeply as I knew well how much he cared for the site he had built in honor of his friend. Verne also sent me Korla-related documents and recordings over the years. We last corresponded two weeks ago and when I mailed him last week, he took longer than usual to reply. Yesterday I received the news he had passed away "in his sleep, with a smile on his face". Verne died, a mere 69 years old, on 1 January 2011. Sleep well Verne...
The picture of Korla and Verne was taken in 1968 and is one of Verne's favorites.
In his own words, written down when his friend Korla died:
"You and the night are gone, but the melody lingers on"
