On a final note, Sigman-Lowery pointed out that Bruce was, of course, quite a designer, too. He designed a cloissone pin for the Mickey Mac Club, depicting a familiar silhouette detailed with the Apple rainbow. After the Disney legal department requested he cease distributing them, he kept about a hundred. In honor of the zany Bruce and David Shows, in which the pair would toss �stuff� into the hall, Paula Sigman-Lowery left the platform and moved down the aisle, tossing pins into the crowd.

The next speaker was NFFC member Dennis Tanida. �I�m here to represent the fans of Bruce Gordon,� Tanida began, �And boy, did he have fans!�

Tanida recalled how he became a fan. It was some twenty years earlier, at an NFFC Summer convention. Imagineer Bruce Gordon was there to give a presentation about Disneyland�s newest attraction, Splash Mountain. Bruce, Tanida noted, did everything first class. He brought along original renderings, and for an added �wow� factor, a full scale model. In setting up the hall the next day, Tanida was nonplussed to find a packet left behind, a packet containing all the original art work used in Bruce�s presentation. After placing a few calls, the artwork was returned, and from then on Bruce and Dennis were friends. (�I may have saved his job,� Tanida joked.)

It was shortly after that memorable presentation that Bruce teamed up with David Mumford. What became known as �The Bruce and David Show� was an eagerly anticipated part of the NFFC for some 12 years. The zany act, Tanida said, combined Martin and Lewis, the Ed Sullivan Show, and Disney history. Topics ranged from the New York World�s Fair to New Tomorrowland to Walt Disney World�s 25th Anniversary. If the history teachers at school had been as good, Tanida noted, we would all know so much more.

He then mentioned their knack for throwing out gifts to the crowd. In one presentation (pre- Power Point), there were several slide carrels. Noting that the slides were all copies anyway, Bruce and David merrily pitched them all into the air. As conventioneers scrambled to collect a souvenir, they found that through a clever switch they were now holding promotional slides for Bruce and David�s latest book.

Tanida then moved forward to 2006, at the Oakland Museum exhibit devoted to Disneyland�s fiftieth birthday. The group, including Diane Disney Miller and others was discussing the new family museum. Tanida brought up the subject of the NFFC oral histories, consisting of over 25 years of presentations by Disney artists, designers, and executives. As Dennis and Bruce talked, they realized both were interested in sharing this archive through the Family Foundation.

As these plans moved forward, Bruce had Dennis look over his plans for the museum. He then charged him with a task� to choose appropriate videos from the NFFC archives and deliver them to him. This was all put into motion, Tanida concluded, some nine months earlier. The selected videos were in Tanida�s living room, awaiting a meeting with Bruce. Though they kept in touch via email and phone, the meeting was destined to not take place. Just earlier in the week, Dennis said, there was an email from Bruce: �Hello from Branson, Missouri. I was sitting in the audience of the Yakov Schmirnoff show when your call came through. I will be back next week. Bruce!!!!!� (This last was an echo of Bruce�s traditional greeting to Dennis, consisting of the word, �TANIDA!�)

To finish, Dennis said that the fans will always miss Bruce, despite the fact that Bruce probably never knew how much he meant to them. For the last time, Dennis said, �Thank you Bruce. Thank you very much.�

Jeff Kurtti returned with the words, �Bruce had fans, and Bruce had friends.� He then introduced Ed Squair to talk about Bruce the fast friend.

Squair began by noting how hard it was to talk about Bruce without mentioning his accomplishments. It was a good thing, he added, that others had covered this.

That Bruce was a good friend was proven to Squair following an operation. Despite the fact that Bruce disliked hospitals, he came to see him, not once but twice. Saturdays were often spent on road trips. No one, Squair insisted, should go to Fry�s Electronics without Bruce, as he knew where everything was.

During a trip to see Wally Boag, Squair recalled a stop at an aquarium shop. Bruce wanted an elaborate aquarium, despite the fact he had no desire to own any fish. After purchasing a complete kit and setting it up, he realized it did need fish. Eventually he ended up with a 100 gallon tank, which Squair described as �an underwater Disneyland for fish.�

An odd thing Bruce liked was visiting locations used in films and television programs. A big fan of Back to the Future, one summer he went to see every location used in the film. His appreciation of locations was on two levels: to see them as they were, and as they worked within the film or television program.

The Segway was also the result of a Saturday road trip. Gordon was planning to update his original purchase, but ended up buying the latest model instead.

Squair finished his remarks by imagining what Bruce must be saying �up there.� First of all, a suggestion: �If you want these gates to look pearly in this light, they need to be more eggshell.� Then, to Walt: �You would not believe what they�ve been doing since you left!�

To discuss Bruce the creative collaborator, Kurtti introduced Richard M. Sherman and Milt Larsen. As the two jauntily took the platform, Sherman helpfully pointed out, �This is Milt, and this is Dick.� He recalled that some twenty years earlier, he and his brother planned to write a book about their experience with Walt Disney. �We�ll call it Walt�s Time,� he said. They wrote the first and last chapters as samples, then sent it out. 34 publishers turned them down, saying, �Where�s the dirt?� There wasn�t any, Sherman said. To write otherwise wouldn�t be true. At the urging of reporter James Bacon, they got the first chapter published in Variety.

Years later, Tony Baxter called the Sherman brothers in to write songs for the Imagination pavilion at EPCOT Center. During this work, they met a young Imagineer named Bruce Gordon. Another ten years passed, and the Shermans arranged a meeting with Bruce Gordon and David Mumford to work on a Paris version of Imagination. At the end of the meeting, Gordon mentioned that he had seen an excerpt from their book, and wanted to do something with it.

Informed that it had already been rejected by many publishers, he felt an affinity for the project, as the book Nickel Tour had also been initially turned down by many publishers. Sherman related his surprise when he learned that Bruce had designed his book. And so, they ended up creating Walt�s Time together, taking photos from the walls and raiding scrapbooks along the way. And, concluded Sherman, by the end of the project he had made a dear friend.

Milt Larsen was introduced to Bruce by Richard at the Magic Castle. Larsen pointed out that he didn�t get to know Gordon as well as others had. But, surprisingly, their work together was on a musical review. Explained Larsen, the songs by the Sherman brothers were wonderful, but the story was terrible. Bruce, he said, knew how to focus and move the story along. �He revised our book, �he said, �and became our executive book editor.� He would throw down a challenge and urge them to do better all the time. At his urging, Sherman wrote a new song to end the show.

Every playbill says �Subject to change without notice,� concluded Larsen. �Life is like that. A week and a half ago it changed. Bruce is gone, but he will continue to work with us. Thank you Bruce. God bless you.�

Jeff Kurtti returned to ask, �Don�t you think Bruce would be squirming by now?� He chuckled that, for once, Bruce had to let them have the last word.

Bruce�s sister Nancy had Kurtti read her tribute to Bruce and his family. His first design work was at home, ranging from simple painting to moving the walls. Working with his mother, Bruce would rearrange furniture. A big project was transferring an elaborate pair of paintings into a needlework grid. For his father, Bruce prepared all his teaching materials. Eventually, he moved him into the world of Mac. Bruce, she said, was a Mac expert.

She was happy to report that Bruce was not the traditional tormenting little brother, but was always loving and generous. Just a few weeks earlier she had asked his advice on what the ideal witch would look like. Bruce took this Halloween request and gave advice on every detail, sending pictures over his iPhone and even purchasing the perfect black leather hat.

Bruce, she said, did not have children of his own, but did raise some amazing cats. They loved to investigate his many projects, but knew how to keep off his keyboard!

The best memories were of Christmas at the Gordons. For Bruce, planning began in January. He chose the best gifts, decided on a theme, and every year selected a tree. He had sources for huge trees. Since his parents� home had cathedral ceilings, their tree would rival those of shopping malls. One year when the trees were not deemed large enough he selected three trees, small, medium and large. And Bruce was always Santa.

�Christmas is going to be especially tough this year,� she concluded. �It is impossible for my dad and me to imagine life without him.�

Richard Sherman closed the program with a final tribute. �First, last and always, Bruce was an Imagineer,� he said. He then performed two songs composed for the original EPCOT Center, One Little Spark and Magic Journeys. As the first songs sprightly tune filled the chapel, the late afternoon sun streaming through the stained glass windows dappled colored light across the columns. The final song took on an unexpectedly melancholy cast, ending with the lyric, �How we travel, Why we go, Is a secret we will never, never know��

(Contributions may be donated in Bruce Gordon�s memory to the Make-a-Wish Foundation, http://www.wish.org/help/donate)

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-- Article by Doug Marsh
-- Posted November 16, 2007