Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc' Part 1

Back in 1976, I received a letter in the mail from Silver Spring, MD, dated October 16th  and signed by a gentleman by the name of Herb Desind.
In the letter Mr. Desind stated that he was a member of the Starlords International Association of Rocketry (This was a correspondence-based club run by Dennis Bishop out of Hawaii),  and had found my name on the membership roster, noting that I lived in Colorado, the perceived heart of model rocket country.
Herb stated that he was an avid flier of the Cineroc movie camera, and that he sought contact with model rocketeers all over the U.S. and the world.  He went on to say that he often sent Cinerocs and booster rockets to folks at many locations with the idea that they could take some interesting Cineroc film sequences for him at various scenic locales.
This letter was the beginning of a correspondence friendship that lasted well over two years.  I never had the opportunity to meet Herb in person, but we had several phone conversations, not to mention the dozens of letter communications that passed between us.
During this time period, Herb sent me a booster rocket - an Estes Omega upper stage which he re-named 'Mountaineer', along with one of his own specially modified Cineroc cameras.  I flew the camera for him several times, after which I would send him the film cartridges.  He would process them and always sent me back a copy.
Also, at Herb's request, I scoured the local hobby shop scene to find new Cinerocs for him. He was definitely a voracious buyer and user of the product! All told, I remember locating and purchasing a total of seven in the Colorado Springs area, which I sent to him, and for which he always re-imbursed me.  A short time later, Herb sold me two of the cameras, equipped with his own special modifications.
Unfortunately, I lost touch with Herb in the early 80s.
A short time later, in 1985, I exited the model rocket hobby.  Establishing a home, career, and family took precedence over model rocketry.
Sometime in the mid-1990s, I toyed with the idea of picking the hobby back up (BAR-ing in today's parlance). I began perusing the internet to see what the state of model rocketry was, since I hadn't kept up with it in over a decade.  It was then that I learned that Herb had passed away.  I was greatly saddened by that.
What made me even sadder was the fact that, when I had sold off all of my model rocketry stuff in 1985, one of my Herb-modified Cinerocs was in the lot.
I still kick myself in the butt for that one. 
If I could only get my hands on a time machine....
Anyway, that's all water under the bridge.  Spilled milk.  Etc., etc.
I still posses a notebook containing all of the correspondence and photographs that Herb sent along.
I still have the memories of my friendship with that remarkable individual.
I will now share all of that with the modern model rocketry community through this new blog series.
I hope some of you readers who knew Herb will enjoy this latest offering.
Stay tuned.