There isn’t an arts, conservation, or environmental education cause in Homer that has not been the beneficiary of Toby’s generosity. His death was not unexpected, and in many ways it was a blessing for him, but the loss was profound.
“And then I’ll walk in at the show, and nobody will recognize me.” He would shave off his beard, which had been his trademark for decades. Later, as we drove up to the door at assisted living, his parting words were, “We have a show to do. The very next night, at a gallery meeting, I overheard him telling people about his May show. The response was typically Toby: “Oh, nobody would want to see those things.” Sensing that he might be persuadable, I suggested that we give it some thought and talk about it later. Just after his 89th birthday, and only a few months after the dust had settled from his March and April 2016 show titled “Surprises from Toby’s Attic,” I pulled up a chair and sprang something on him. “We had so much fun with your show, how about we do another one? Like next May, for Shorebird Festival month? We could frame up all your new paintings and some of your watercolors, too.”
Toby Tyler, Summer 2016, Working on “Sunset Glow”
