Very sad to hear this.
I met KOZ for the first time many years ago (2004) on a trip to Michigan. He introduced me to several Michigan players and collectors and opened up a new world for me and changed my entire outlook of the pinball hobby. Several of those people I met, I still consider pinball friends to this day.
Any time I would travel up to Michigan, KOZ and I would meet and he would teach me new skills and strategies. (I have detailed emails he sent me describing what skills and strategies to work on that I have saved in a folder called “Pinlicious Rants”
He later invited me to play on his expo pinbrawl team and it was a huge honor for me. It was my first venture into competitive pinball and it meant a lot to me to have someone of that skill level ask me to play with him. (Someone mentioned the Valinor mode he reached at expo-I remember being there for that)
I was also proud to play with him and achieve the status of Golden Horseshoe wizard mode on Fast Draw at one of the early PATZ shows. That whole trip was a very fond memory.
Although KOZ and I fell out of touch over the past several years (he had a new family, and I was not traveling as much), I will always consider him an extremely influential person in my pinball life and was glad to have been his friend.
RIP and my deepest sympathies to KOZ’s family and loved ones.
Sincerely
Jeff