still kinda hard to believe he's gone. i met him in person only once, before i knew of the legend of Ken Layton. i was buying some boards from an old-school operator in Olympia via a Craigslist ad, and while i'm thumbing through a big box of marquees and other random stuff, in walks this guy with a beautifully repainted Midway coin door that he's restored. the op and i spend a few minutes oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the great workmanship, and three of us chat for a bit. eventually i'm done making my choices and i leave (OMG, the days of $10 working R-Type and Galaga 88 boards). a little while later i'm on KLOV or some other forum and i keep seeing this local tech responding to questions and i suddenly realize, "Hey! That's the guy I met over at Steve's!"
over the years we chatted back and forth a bit, mostly in the last couple in relation to his work at the Olympia Pinball Museum, but i never again did speak to him in person. such an awesome and giving person. he's certainly missed, but much of his knowledge lives on, between the forums and those of he blessed with it.