I always wondered if they engraved the wrong birth date for Ron on that plaque. It was either wrong or he jumped a couple of grades (as brilliant as he was!)
Candy ,Thanks so much for the picture of the statue in Las Vegas . I've seen it many times but never knew that Ron was the mastermind . Think how much he would have done had he lived . He was so talented !!!!!! I'm proud to call him my classmate .A SUPER human being .
Birth: May 5, 1945
Iowa, USA
Death: Apr. 16, 1991
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Hollywood special effects artist. Hays created the special and visual effects for the films "Omni! The New Frontier" (1981), "The Bay City Rollers Show" (1978), "Grease" (1978), "Demon Seed" (1977) and "That Was Then, This Is Now" (1985).
I'll never forget Ron. He was a good friend throughout Jr High and High School. After the 25th Reunion a bunch of us wound up at the house where we all spent so much time together after football games, dances at Peony, and just for whatever reason. My Mom, as always, had pizzas and pop at the ready and I remember that Ron went into the kitchen and told her how important she had been to him and that the reunion would not have been complete without seeing her. She was so pleased. He was an enormous talent and such a good friend to so many of us. His place is empty.
Many of us had not been aware of all the creative talents our class president had during his years after BHS, and I just found this brief article on him that was in the LA Times at the time of his death. My trip to Las Vegas for a water conference found me searching for his tribute that Judy Shinkle had described--all of the many fountains in Caesars Palace had a placque on them saying the "coins tossed in these waters go to the children's library"--after much searching, I finally found the location of Ron's tribute and I thought many of you looking through his In Memory comments may like to see this article as well. Candy
Ron Hays, a preeminent force among the small but growing band of imagists who meld computerized film, slides, synthesizers and music to produce multimedia art for operas, concerts and TV and motion pictures, is dead.
The artist and conceptualist was 45 when he died Tuesday of the complications of AIDS at a Marina del Rey hospital.
Hays was a pioneer in a still-experimental field which produces theatrical attractions based on Chinese mythology, special effects for Las Vegas clubs and visuals for symphony orchestras.
In 1979, he won an Emmy for best graphic design for the "Krofft Superstar Hour" with The Bay City Rollers, and he was nominated for one in 1982 for "Omni."
In 1980, the International Television Assn. honored him for "Odyssey: A Video Music Album," the industry's first electronic and computer animated visual music laser disc.
His "Star Wars Concerts" with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic filled the Hollywood Bowl, and in 1984 he co-created and directed "Amphitheater of Light," a musical "Prelude to the Olympics" at the Bowl, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the Philharmonic. He also worked with David Wolper on the Olympics closing ceremonies at the Coliseum.
Born in Omaha, Hays studied at Northwestern University and did graduate research at MIT before becoming a TV producer in Philadelphia and Boston.
One of his first projects was the use of computerized animations for the Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcast performance of "Daphnis and Chloe." He then put together animations of the Prelude and Liebestod selections from Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" for a Leonard Bernstein concert in 1975.
Hays moved to Los Angeles in 1976, where he established his own production company.
Survivors include his mother, Royalyn, a sister and his longtime friend and partner, Gerald Betzen.
Donations in his name are asked to the Daniel Freeman Hospital Foundations for its Marina Hospital AIDS Unit.
Thank you for posting the picture of Ron's memorial at Ceasar's Palace. I have been to Ceasar's Palace many times, and probably walked right past that placque, and didn't realize the significance of it. I go to a conference in LV every spring. Next spring I will go back to Ceasar's Palace with a different purpose. I also appreciated reading the news article you submitted. Thank you for taking the time to share that with all of us.
Thank You so much for posting the article about Ron .I ( like I think , many others ) had never seen it .Ron was not just our classsmate - he was a true visionary and we had just begun to scratch the surface of this talented young mans life when it was ended all too soon .
Thanks to Judy Anderson Shinkle for posting the website and you tube info .We can keep our class president in our thoughts by checking these websites out. I think Ron would be very pleased with how proud his classmates are of him .May he rest in peace !
I spent many hours through the years with ron and the rest of the of the various casts of the plays doris stevenson produced. she told me once that he was going to do great things in theater some day. he was incredibly talented and and a perfectionest that bordered on (to me at the time) manic. he was exact and demanding and i certainly, even in a job as lowly as a prompter), tried to follow his guidelines. he was a funny and charismatic person and the world has missed those " great things" he would still be creating, i wish mrs stevenson was still around to see his accomplishments.
Thanks for posting the photo, Candy. I always enjoyed the plays, working on the make-up crew. Put a lot of beards, eyebrows and effects on Ron for all his roles. So glad to see his accomplishments recognized.
One need not go to Las Vegas to have a memory of Ron or Ronnie as we called him then. Every time I watch a PBS program that was produced in Boston and see the WGBH logo, I think of him. He designed that logo and it has remained the same. BTW, we knew the birth year on the Las Vegas fountain plaque was wrong because he had a big birthday party for his 10th birthday on five-five-fifty-five. Even our 4th grade teacher at Monroe Elementary was invited: Mary Lou McCoy.
Judy Anderson (Shinkle)
I always wondered if they engraved the wrong birth date for Ron on that plaque. It was either wrong or he jumped a couple of grades (as brilliant as he was!)
Marty Butters (Massey)
Candy ,Thanks so much for the picture of the statue in Las Vegas . I've seen it many times but never knew that Ron was the mastermind . Think how much he would have done had he lived . He was so talented !!!!!! I'm proud to call him my classmate .A SUPER human being .
Janis Brown (Henderson)
Birth: May 5, 1945
Iowa, USA
Death: Apr. 16, 1991
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Hollywood special effects artist. Hays created the special and visual effects for the films "Omni! The New Frontier" (1981), "The Bay City Rollers Show" (1978), "Grease" (1978), "Demon Seed" (1977) and "That Was Then, This Is Now" (1985).
I'll never forget Ron. He was a good friend throughout Jr High and High School. After the 25th Reunion a bunch of us wound up at the house where we all spent so much time together after football games, dances at Peony, and just for whatever reason. My Mom, as always, had pizzas and pop at the ready and I remember that Ron went into the kitchen and told her how important she had been to him and that the reunion would not have been complete without seeing her. She was so pleased. He was an enormous talent and such a good friend to so many of us. His place is empty.
Candy May (West)
Many of us had not been aware of all the creative talents our class president had during his years after BHS, and I just found this brief article on him that was in the LA Times at the time of his death. My trip to Las Vegas for a water conference found me searching for his tribute that Judy Shinkle had described--all of the many fountains in Caesars Palace had a placque on them saying the "coins tossed in these waters go to the children's library"--after much searching, I finally found the location of Ron's tribute and I thought many of you looking through his In Memory comments may like to see this article as well. Candy
Ron Hays; Multimedia Conceptualist
Ron Hays, a preeminent force among the small but growing band of imagists who meld computerized film, slides, synthesizers and music to produce multimedia art for operas, concerts and TV and motion pictures, is dead.
The artist and conceptualist was 45 when he died Tuesday of the complications of AIDS at a Marina del Rey hospital.
Hays was a pioneer in a still-experimental field which produces theatrical attractions based on Chinese mythology, special effects for Las Vegas clubs and visuals for symphony orchestras.
In 1979, he won an Emmy for best graphic design for the "Krofft Superstar Hour" with The Bay City Rollers, and he was nominated for one in 1982 for "Omni."
In 1980, the International Television Assn. honored him for "Odyssey: A Video Music Album," the industry's first electronic and computer animated visual music laser disc.
His "Star Wars Concerts" with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic filled the Hollywood Bowl, and in 1984 he co-created and directed "Amphitheater of Light," a musical "Prelude to the Olympics" at the Bowl, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the Philharmonic. He also worked with David Wolper on the Olympics closing ceremonies at the Coliseum.
Born in Omaha, Hays studied at Northwestern University and did graduate research at MIT before becoming a TV producer in Philadelphia and Boston.
One of his first projects was the use of computerized animations for the Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcast performance of "Daphnis and Chloe." He then put together animations of the Prelude and Liebestod selections from Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" for a Leonard Bernstein concert in 1975.
Hays moved to Los Angeles in 1976, where he established his own production company.
Survivors include his mother, Royalyn, a sister and his longtime friend and partner, Gerald Betzen.
Donations in his name are asked to the Daniel Freeman Hospital Foundations for its Marina Hospital AIDS Unit.
Barbara Mitchell (Peterson)
Candy,
Thank you for posting the picture of Ron's memorial at Ceasar's Palace. I have been to Ceasar's Palace many times, and probably walked right past that placque, and didn't realize the significance of it. I go to a conference in LV every spring. Next spring I will go back to Ceasar's Palace with a different purpose. I also appreciated reading the news article you submitted. Thank you for taking the time to share that with all of us.
Judy Anderson (Shinkle)
You can "google" Ron Hays and come up with a lot of what he accomplished. Particularly, go to a utube video at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kACpN3vhFtY
to see his "Odyssey, A video music album".
Marty Butters (Massey)
Candy ,
Thank You so much for posting the article about Ron .I ( like I think , many others ) had never seen it .Ron was not just our classsmate - he was a true visionary and we had just begun to scratch the surface of this talented young mans life when it was ended all too soon .
Thanks to Judy Anderson Shinkle for posting the website and you tube info .We can keep our class president in our thoughts by checking these websites out. I think Ron would be very pleased with how proud his classmates are of him .May he rest in peace !
Ann Seymour (Chaney)
I spent many hours through the years with ron and the rest of the of the various casts of the plays doris stevenson produced. she told me once that he was going to do great things in theater some day. he was incredibly talented and and a perfectionest that bordered on (to me at the time) manic. he was exact and demanding and i certainly, even in a job as lowly as a prompter), tried to follow his guidelines. he was a funny and charismatic person and the world has missed those " great things" he would still be creating, i wish mrs stevenson was still around to see his accomplishments.
ann chaney
Carrie Carrick (McLaughlin)
Thanks for posting the photo, Candy. I always enjoyed the plays, working on the make-up crew. Put a lot of beards, eyebrows and effects on Ron for all his roles. So glad to see his accomplishments recognized.
David Desler
One need not go to Las Vegas to have a memory of Ron or Ronnie as we called him then. Every time I watch a PBS program that was produced in Boston and see the WGBH logo, I think of him. He designed that logo and it has remained the same. BTW, we knew the birth year on the Las Vegas fountain plaque was wrong because he had a big birthday party for his 10th birthday on five-five-fifty-five. Even our 4th grade teacher at Monroe Elementary was invited: Mary Lou McCoy.