David Rickerby

[colin 0]

It is with great sadness that I've heard that my old friend, skydiver, talented artist and scourge of DZOs and his friends all over the world, David Rickerby has died suddenly of natural causes.

Any of you that know Rickerby will be wondering how he managed to die of natural causes but that appears to be the case!

BSBD mate 8)

[RhondaLea 3]

As I said in my post to r.s, I'm stunned. I forgot to mention there that I'm very sad. He was quite a guy, and his passing is all too soon.

Quote

Any of you that know Rickerby will be wondering how he managed to die of natural causes but that appears to be the case!

It's a mystery for the ages, Colin.

Blue Skies, Rickerby.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[BillyVance 34]

Was Rickerby on rec.skydiving back in the old days? I've seen his name a lot somewhere, just not lately.

Blue Skies David...

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[RhondaLea 3]

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Was Rickerby on rec.skydiving back in the old days? I've seen his name a lot somewhere, just not lately.

Blue Skies David...

He may have posted a time or three over the years, but he was never a regular, AFAIK. I believe he has also posted to dropzone.com, although I can't remember his choice of user name.

He probably wasn't the most coherent of posters--his gift was not the written word, but pictures that were worth many thousands of words. He was an incredibly gifted artist:

http://petercoker.com/

Edited to add another link:

http://www.artopium.com/space20/artistpage.cgi?ID=522&CalledBy=G3020

He was also a very funny guy.

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[JohnRich 4]

Examples of his parachute gear art work here:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3192008;

[htrammel 0]

BSBD Rickerby. Wow? Natural causes? Who'd a thunk it?
ht

[ltdiver 3]

I never had the pleasure of meeting David, however I've now spent the past hour absorbing his work on-line and am mesmerized by his intellect. I wish I could have met him. He was a very insightful and inspiring man.

This creation speaks volumes on how he viewed life, I'm thinking.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[jonstark 8]

Whoa! What a blow. I'm bummed.

We became acquainted in the early eighties in Deland where he was a subsistence artist/skydiver living off commissioned rig and aircraft art. We kept in touch over the years and recently had a couple of fun exchanges by PM here. He had a keen sense of humor. Genuinely a nice guy I always figured he was enjoying life a lot.

This is a bummer but if anybody ever thought there was another plane of existence it was David. Dig it David and fly on.

jon

[howardwhite 3]

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I believe he has also posted to dropzone.com, although I can't remember his choice of user name.

User name: rickerby. Total of 48 posts.
Rigs with original Rickerby pilot-chute caps are treasures (though probably not many of them are still jumped regularly.)
How sad.

HW

[labrys 0]

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Rigs with original Rickerby pilot-chute caps are treasures (though probably not many of them are still jumped regularly.)
How sad.

John Winkler had a Rickerby print on the wall of his workshop at our DZ. It was an altimeter face superimposed with the grim reaper pointing a long, wicked finger at 0. It gave me the chills when I looked at it.

We had a fire a few months ago and the print was destroyed. It was one of the only things that almost brough Wink to tears in spite of losing almost all of his skydiving gear and video editing equipment.

BSBD to you, Mr. Rickerby. Although I never talked to you or met you, you touched my life.

Owned by Remi #?

[muff528 3]

BSBD, Dave. Good memories sitting around picking guitars. My favorite Rickerby murals are the bulkhead on Southern Cross and the wall at Head's Bar in Zhills. ,Tony P.

[jimmytavino 16]

aw No.....

his creativity within this sport and associated artwork, including the genius of where that Art work was done can never be matched again.

Rickerby visited once,, and a few of my friends own JumpShack Racers,,with original hand painted PopTops...drawn by David Rickerby... One has a Mirage container with a custom reserve flap...
it seems he was traveling in a
remodeled Bus, which was quite distinct. It wouldda been western NY , Batavia, august or july in the early to mid 80's. might have been an early DC-3 Boogie....anyway.....
he was

the kind of guy, who makes you smile..

Blue skies...


jt

[freakyrat 1]

How sad. I have one of his cool painting's on my wall by my computer. It is the one with the alien figure sitting on top of clouds.

Chris

[happythoughts 0]

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BSBD, Dave. Good memories sitting around picking guitars. My favorite Rickerby murals are the bulkhead on Southern Cross and the wall at Head's Bar in Zhills. ,Tony P.

Heads has been renamed the Hog Pound.
One panel of the mural still remains.

I haven't seen Dave since he broke his leg at Zhills.

My fav conversation was in 95, when he was the first freeflyer that I ever met.

He was explaining it to me and I said, "I dunno Dave. It sounds like you are just tracking towards the ground. It will never catch on."


There are a lot of his tshirt designs floating around.
Most scare little children in grocery stores.

[faulknerwn 36]

Not sure if this is a Rickerby (got it used) but it could be...
(ooops added the attachment)

[happythoughts 0]

No pic attached.

Look for his initials, D J R, somewhere on the edge of the pic.

[muff528 3]

Hi Bill,

I didn't know part of the painting at Head's still existed. To bad if it's not the tailgate scene. If I remember correctly one of the jumpers on the tailgate was supposed to be Tom Piras and a reflection of the Reaper could be seen in his sunglasses. I believe Piras went in shortly before Rickerby painted this mural. Of course, my memory could be fogged with age & time.

Also, I'm planning on getting by the DZ sometimes during the T-Boogie for a visit. Maybe see you there.

Tony P.

[skybill 18]

Hi colin,
Dave Gone!!! He will be missed.

Only met him once at the "Mardi Gras Boogie 1987" in Covington LA. Good times!!

Fly On!!

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[dirtyduck 0]

Tony Uragallo knew DJR from the UK,and Gerry Dyck knew him from Z-hillls from way back and have the 2 largest DJR art collections.... both with several DJR classics. Gerry was talking to he & Jennifer this year by phone.

DJR painted inside Tony's house. Priceless.

[dirtyduck 0]

Every skydiver on that tailgate scene was a skydiver who used to be alive. The one in the middle facing out the back in the middle was Tom Piras.

[Gene03 0]

RIP Dave.
You were one of a kind.

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)

[muff528 3]

Yes, I remember that now. Now that I think about it, it seems that the reflection was not of the Reaper but rather a CYPRES. If Piras was facing toward the rear then the reflection was in one of the other jumpers' glasses. Maybe someone has a close-up photo of the tailgate skydivers.

[Shell666 0]

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Tony Uragallo knew DJR from the UK,and Gerry Dyck knew him from Z-hillls from way back and have the 2 largest DJR art collections.... both with several DJR classics. Gerry was talking to he & Jennifer this year by phone.

DJR painted inside Tony's house. Priceless.

He also painted an amazing scene from LP for a Ian Aitken -- if you're looking AT the bar and you wander up and sit on the hill to the right of it and look across the former landing area at the mountains, at sunset ... a lovely picture.

I met Dave at LP one year thanks to Ian. Trying to recall the year but I "think" it was the late 90's ... ANYway ... he had some great stories about some of his paintings and where they were and how they came about. And he had some amazing artwork stowed away in his van. I have some t-shirts of his somewhere around here. I guess it's time to dig them up.

To everyone that knew and loved him, I'm sorry for your loss.

'Shell

[jimmytavino 16]

an earlier sentiment, which i posted here,,
Must be re-written,*
based on all the other wonderful comments, which i have read.

* " Rickerby IS the kind of guy, who makes you smile..." It was nice to learn more about him. and see his work....great imagination, great technician...

fly free

j

[eric.fradet 17]

sure this is a Rickerby, made in 82 at Z Hills on a Racer pop top..