Remembering Everett Raymond Kinstler
As publisher of International Artist my regular to trips to the Portrait Society of America’s annual conferences were always something I looked forward to. Traveling from Australia meant I could visit our offices in America and, while there, go on to the conference venue.
The conference in 2000 was in Reston, just outside of Washington, D.C., and the weekend turned out to be one of the highlights of my life because it was on this particular visit that Everett Raymond Kinstler asked me to sit for him as the subject of his portrait demo in front of the audience assembled in the huge hall.
Having one’s portrait painted by the artist who has painted so many presidential portraits and famous people is like winning the lottery. It is an experience afforded to few and one never to be forgotten. The portrait he gifted me hangs in pride of place in my home and the happy memories it brings me make smile every time I walk past it. I remember Wende Caporale once asked him, since he had two first names, what she should call him. He replied, “You can call me honey.” I knew him as Ray and I always think how much better the world would be if more of us were like him.
Afterwards I continued my journey to Ray’s magnificent studio at the National Arts Club in New York where he completed the portrait. On a subsequent visit there, he and I got to grips with the mountain of original sketches and letters he had gathered together for My Brush with History, the new autobiographical book he wanted me to publish. Being able to design and publish his book marked the high point of my book publishing career and I know Ray was very happy with the result.
My sincere condolences to his wife, Peggy, and to his family. Vincent Miller Publisher