That Jungle Shirt Guy: Remembering 莱斯 Zoltan
It was a cold February evening when I got the call. 莱斯, more than a longtime customer and colleague, had passed away due to complications from COVID-19 at 73. You see the numbers on the news, but it's all surreal until it touches you or someone you know. I was left reeling, literally crushed. This was man that I had done business with for more than 13 years. But when you do business with someone that long, he's not just a customer. 他是个朋友.
The last time I saw 莱斯 (his real name was Laszlo, but no one who knew him called him that) was at 流媒体 West in 2019, and of course he was dressed in one of his infamous loud jungle-style "Digital Video Extraordinaire" (DVEO)衬衫. And while 莱斯 was brilliant—you wanted to pick his brain about technology for hours—I always found my eyes drifting to his shirt during conversions about the gear that he saw his clients needing and wanting. It was distracting and didn’t seem professional. At the very least, it was hard to take him seriously, especially in the early years. No matter what he was saying, I kept thinking, "There are parrots and monkeys on this guy’s shirt.但那是莱斯.
“What's with the shirts?我终于问道. “这是一个主题吗?他说:“没有。. "They make people smile." For the headshot that went with his 2021 Industry Prediction他戴着一顶牛仔帽. Neither our editor Eric nor I were shocked, and we both had a chuckle about it. 这就是莱斯.
莱斯 never had a bad word to say about anything or anyone. He loved the industry, touched so many people, and for me, was a personal inspiration. In a world based on performance, 莱斯 made a point to remind me that business needs to be fun, and that behind every encoder there are real people. I remember telling him about an agency that sent me an RFP and demanded that they have a response in 48 hours, 而且是在度假期间. "Why do you bother with that kind of business?他问道。. "They don’t care about you." He was right—of course they didn’t.
Every time I'd see 莱斯 setting up at our 流媒体 West show, he'd pull me over and give me a small gift. Nothing fancy, but always something personal. He knew I have a passion for the sea, and one show he gave me an oil painting of a sailing ship that he found while walking the streets of San Diego. It wasn’t a corporate gift with a logo, and he bought it on a whim. He didn’t buy it "to score points"—he saw it and he thought of me. Here was a guy who wasn't just a customer or a colleague. Here was a man who genuinely cared about people—a friend. 我想念他.
The world needs more people like 莱斯, and the world most certainly needs more jungle shirts.
Here's a video interview with 莱斯 at 流媒体 West 2019, a few months before the pandemic.
If you’d like to read 莱斯’s obituary or send flowers, you can visit the San Diego Union Tribune.
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