I got the  most wonderful Christmas present today, a photo from George Forss of the World Trade Center towers, taken in 1998 from the 40th floor of the Woolworth building. I was visiting George with my friend Lisa Dingle and I admired the photo, which was being shown in his art gallery window,  and George said “please, take this is as a Christmas present, I’ve been trying to figure out what to get you and I can’t. This would make me very happy.” I hesitated to take a gift like this – George’s New York photos are priceless – but George is incapable of guile, if he said it would make him happy,  then it would. I could see he was struggling to figure out what to get me.

George’s photos capture the majesty and force of New York and it’s skyline, especially in the era before 9/11, when Americans felt invincible and untouchable.

To get a gift of an artistic work from a genius is a gift beyond measure, something with enormous meaning for me, I have three or four Forss photos in my study, they inspire me every day. He loves the blog, he says it is a religion.

Thanks George. This weekend, I’m taking George to see the new Hobbit movie “The Desolation of Smaug” in 3-D. I think he will love it, it will touch his mystical and spiritual streak. I am much touched by this gift, George is as thoughtful as he is talented.