My friend, Boots Reitzel

The 'Boots Reitzel heel' …It's high, tho' not enough to cause nosebleed--
and it's cut at a greater 'back' angle, creating an even more undershot heel than the Bond traditional. This creates slightly smaller heel-to-earth contact area, but it moves your body center of gravity slightly forward as you walk--no feeling of bein' tipped forward, and a safer and more comfortable 'feel' to the boot.
(See above photo, in the word of Mr. Boots Reitzel, TucsonBoot.net)

I just got an email telling me my friend, Boots Reitzel has died. Usually, I wait until I'm done crying before I blog about someone or something, but this time I don't care.

Boots and I were friends for more than ten years and met in person only once. I admired Boots. I considered him to be the perfect blend of humility and bravery. I would poke at him, shaking my head and telling him he oughta charge more for all the TLC and heel dressing he was giving away on his consignment boots, pair after pair. Then, I would cover my eyes and read between my fingers when one of his Boot Talks would tell me and the whole-world-wide-web the exact moment when his favorite bootmaker's work had turned to crap.

I remember sitting at Boot's kitchen counter... smiling with every new cowboy boot tattoo I spotted on Boot's arms. We talked about boots, his and everyone else's... hardly anything else. I remember when he walked me to my car after my visit, just so I didn't step on a rattlesnake.