MicrostockGroup

On a very sad note, Robert Mizerek (Bob was also known online as "The Miz" or "rjmiz") has passed away on September 29th, 2008 during his battle with cancer.  He was 57 years old. 

Bob was a close friend of ours, and contributed much to the microstock community.  He served in the United States Air Force and was a 1971 graduate of the University of Farmingdale with a degree in graphic arts and advertising. He also was a member of N.A.P.P. and an accomplished photographer.

With his great sense of humor, he made us laugh.  With his "tell it like it is" approach to life, he made us think.  Through his lifetime knowledge of photoshop, he helped us learn and grow.  He will be dearly missed by many of us. 

Bob's public obituary can be found here: http://www.legacy.com/RecordOnline/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=118368265

wow, thats sad.

I didn't expect that at all.  That just brings my day down even more.

I just found out.  I was contacted by his sister, Wendy.  I knew something was wrong when I hadn't heard from him in so long, but I didn't think he would have passed already.  He just found out about the cancer about a month ago.  It must have been in its advanced stages.  :'(

R.I.P. Miz

Very sad.

I didn't know the guy other than from his posts but I feel choked up none the less.

Don't know what to say! I was wondering where he was.
Condolence to friends and family!

R.I.P. , thanks for the output and humor.

I guess it's a result of Miz's irreverent and offbeat approach to things that I first thought this was some sort of setup for a post - something to get our attention.

So sorry it was for real :(

 :o RIP Miz... I realized that it's never easy to lost someone, even if I know the person only on the internet :(

RIP...

RIP..Really enjoyed his wacky sense of humor  :(

Sometimes caustic, but sometimes the only voice of clarity and reason.

RIP and condolences to the family.

I'll miss my exchanging of insults with the MIZ, although we used to have a go at each other there was no malice and one of my last exchanges with him was via Dreamstime where he shared some interesting info with me about somebody who often posts on SS that we both knew is a (can't think of a word that isn't rude).

I know Bob was well thought of on Dreamstime, Todd as you got the info maybe you'd like to post something on the forum over there just to let people know.

Goodbye Miz some of your crazy posts really maked me laugh you have been an excellent microstock-contributor but never took the business too serious.
Rest in peace.
My condolence to friends and family!

Very sad...will miss his posts. RIP and condolences to the family.

So sad and sudden. Despite the fact that The Miz could be caustic and provocative, I learned a lot from his Photoshop tutorials, things that I've been doing today in my processing.

His memory will live on in the advice and guidance he's given people ... and in some of the outrageous things he said.

There was no one quite like him. He will be sadly missed.

Sad indeed.  I'm the same age, and I can tell you FOR SURE than 57 is way too young to die.  I, too, will miss is posts, as I have for the past few months.

Very sad - we'd stopped talking awhile ago after he got mad at me for something idiotic but I didn't know he was this far ... sad.

In spite of our disagreements on things, it sure is sad to hear that someone lost a fight against cancer.  My thoughts go out to his family, and hopefully his portfolio can live on to help those of them who might need it.

Such sad news.
He taught me a few good tricks in Photoshop. I will remember him when I use them.

That is such sad news.  His humour made me spit tea over my keyboard many a time.  I will really miss him in these forums.  Condolences to his family.

Very sad to hear. RIP Miz.

So sad. He always had some strange and on the other hand funny reactions on the forum. And then nothing. I thought he didn't want to come here anymore and then you hear this. Also my condolences to his family.

Sad news.  He gave a lot of his time making the free tutorials and I am sure a lot of us appreciate that.

He always made me smile. Thank you Miz

God bless you Miz!

I noticed someone started a thread on DT, I was kinda hoping it would be kept under hush as we just don't know what will happen to his account now...  hopefully his stock legacy will transfer to a member of his family.   Even with a will and legal documents it might be a challenge with the local laws of other countries.

Nuts.
I liked his work, and he always made me smile.

wow, I am very sorry to hear that :(

My sympathy goes out to his family.

Sad news, my condolences to the family.

Really sad, thanks for the tutorials.

Sad news. Though billed as a new member I have been reading this forum for some time and Roberts postings have always given me a great laugh in between the serious stuff. Truly, sadly missed. David

He had great sense of humor!

My condolences to the family. R.I.P.

I think the most honorable thing we can do in remembrance of the Miz is to tell it like it is, as he would do. As others have already said, he was a caustic presence around here. If you were to ask me about him, I would simply say that the guy was a jerk. Still, he was a dedicated artist and member of this community, as well someone who served his country in the military, and for that I can respect him. I also respect anyone who battles cancer, and hope that someday in our lifetimes these types of deaths are a thing of the past.

Wow.  Want to hear another interesting fact?  This, I just learned from speaking to his sister Wendy on the phone.  Bob Mizerek was actually COLORBLIND.    That amazes me.  His images were always vivid and full of color. 

Thanks for all of the nice responses, everyone.  Bob certainly left his mark on the community.

Very sad news...RIP  I will miss your posts!

Very sad ... God bless you Miz and your family!

Very shocking news. A controversial person, indeed, but I learnt a lot from his tutorials.

I hope his creative imagery stays online perpetuating his name and generating income for his family.

Regards,
Adelaide

Very sad.  Although controversial, I thought he brought a little life to the forums - sometimes too much life, but life nonetheless. 

May he rest in piece, sad news.
You will be remembered MIZ.

Too sad news! ! He was a very colorful character in this forum
Rest in peace  Miz!

I may not post much, but I truly enjoyed his posts. I was wondering where he went. Always looked for his posts. Forum will not be the same without him. May he rest in peace.

Never got to know him very well. Hope he has found some contentment away from the physical world.

Sad, so very sad....   my sincere sympathy to his family.  this guy will miss him very much. 

Hello All,

I am Bob's sister Wendy, and want to send a big THANK YOU for all of your heartfelt thoughts, wishes, and prayers.  It is wonderful to see how many people Bob and his work touched.  While he certainly was outspoken and opinionated, it is obvious that many of you respected his work as colleagues, associates, and friends. I am touched by your words of comfort, snippets of your interaction with him, and mostly that you took the time to care.  I certainly want to see his work live on and will help make that happen as best that I can.  If there's anything you want to share personally, please don't hesitate to contact me at:  [email protected].  I would love to hear from you!

Thank you all again,
Wendy Mizerek-Herrburger

Quote from: bobsister on October 07, 2008, 23:49

I am Bob's sister Wendy,

Wendy...  I am sincerely sorry for your loss.  My sympathies to you and Bob's family.     Tom Takacs

Very sad news, my condolences to the family and to you Wendy.

Sad new indeed... All my condoleances to you Wendy and your family

Robert's presence to the stock forums was priceless.  I'll always remember his contributions, not only here, but earlier on SS where his photoshop renderings ("the landing" comes to my mind) and his sense of humor (self-elected queen/king of the forum and Miz-points) were attracting hundreds of views.
He never considered himself an expert, thus he inspired so many newcomers.  He didn't depend on the stock financial income, so he was free to explore, and broke quite a few boundaries in the process.
Thank you for letting us know of his departure, all the very best to his family.  Thinking especially of you Wendy.  We'll definitely miss Robert.

This is so sad!  Fifty seven is just way too young to pass on.  Deepest condolences to his friends and family.

I really enjoyed his "cranky" postings, musings, and perspective.   He will certainly be missed around here.  :(

Im truly sad .  Only thing you could do to annoy me  beside posting stupid posts every few minutes, that I just had to read , is to stop posting for good. And you did it again. From one end to another , like always.

So , YOU SUCK really really bad on iStock, and your user name is vacuum , well , some things will definitely SUCK without you , and my user name is Lizard.




I hope you had a good life  , and rest in peace  MIZ , many people here will remember you.


Wendy , my condolences to you and to all your family .


 

 

F...... cancer...
My condolences

Sad news.
Rest in Peace Mr. MIZ

Here is a photoshop tutorial done by Bob - the only one I could find so far. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lTH-UAWts

He had so many more, but he was constantly changing around his website.  If anyone finds any of this other tutorials online, maybe we should start a thread and link them all in.   

It's nice to be able to hear his voice one last time.

Quote from: graficallyminded on October 08, 2008, 01:36
Here is a photoshop tutorial done by Bob - the only one I could find so far. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lTH-UAWts

He had so many more, but he was constantly changing around his website.  If anyone finds any of this other tutorials online, maybe we should start a thread and link them all in.   

It's nice to be able to hear his voice one last time.

I was just looking few of them few minutes ago for the same reason , there are quite few working links in this forum.

http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?board=27.20

Here are a bunch more:  http://www.stockphotographer.info/content/blogcategory/73/121/

Sad news, condolences to the family. Seems like his words touched us as much as his tutorials.
Opinionated and provocative but always willing to help. 

Cancer sucks!!!

Pierre

His humor and view of this crazy world will be greatly missed.

My condolences. A very sad news, I will miss his comments.

Condolences to the family of Mr. Robert. Sad and shocking news...i learned a lot from his tutorial.

We miss his sense of humor on this community.

Quote from: graficallyminded on October 08, 2008, 01:36
Here is a photoshop tutorial done by Bob - the only one I could find so far. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lTH-UAWts

He had so many more, but he was constantly changing around his website.  If anyone finds any of this other tutorials online, maybe we should start a thread and link them all in.   

It's nice to be able to hear his voice one last time.

Here is the video direct.

Very sad news indeed. I just joined the forums and started to enjoy rjmiz posts, when they suddenly stopped coming, and now this..... His sarcastic, yet informative posts brought life to many a discussion. My deepest sympathy goes to his family and his close friends...

I only just found out about the Miz this morning.  So very sad.  His tutorials were very helpful to me and saved me hours of work.  I didn't always agree with his views but his posts were definitely entertaining at times.  He will be missed.  My sincerest condolences to his family.   :-[

Hi everyone,
this is the first time I post in this forum. I'm too small a fish to be considered interesting, so I keep quiet. I'll make an exception in honour of MIZ.
His death was a shock and it is a great loss to all of us.
But I find it  sad and disturbing when people like the poster before consider him as 'definitely entertaining AT TIMES'.
He was far from it.
He was highly intelligent, highly creative, exceptional artist and an exceptional man.
He wasn't the average 'Joe'.
And that is why I will deeply miss his posts, his help and his views.
I doubt that the pixelbrat above will ever be able to produce anything as 'entertaining' as MIZ did. Not even 'at times'.
RIP MIZ.

not sure where this came from,. it seems like a simple disagreement / misunderstanding of language.. but i really don't think pixelbrat meant her comment as an insult in any way.  She was simply saying that his posts, which she didn't always agree with, were, if nothing else often entertaining.  I would have to agree with her.  The Miz made many very controversial posts, some very serious, some completely sarcasm or humor.  They were often the kind of posts you agreed with or did not agree with, you couldn't be in the middle.

Pixelbrat's post was complimentary not derogatory.  ... but enough, we don't need to discuss this.
I don't want this thread to turn into some petty argument.

We´ll join you when time comes miz.   Lonely here on the forum without you...

What I remember about "The Miz", Bob was very quick posting and replying, at times it seems he had many hands typing or he had pre-writen things and would paste to fire at you very fast.

The miz was provocative & sarcastic with a cranky unique perspective but with a great sense of humor.
He made the forums fun, sometimes made it too much fun.
At times he could make contact with people like is done to cattle with the point of an electrically charged goad.

He was also:
crotchety, cantankerous, capricious, choleric, contumacious unsteady, crabby, cross, cross-grained, crotchety, difficult, disagreeable, grouchy, irascible, irritable, ornery, out of sorts, peevish, perverse, petulant, querulous, splenetic, stubborn, testy, touchy, unreasonable and vinegary...

...and many a time he could also:
aggravate, anger, annoy, arouse, bait, bother, bug, cause, chafe, challenge, displease, egg on, exacerbate, exasperate, excite, foment, galvanize, generate, harass, impel, incense, incite, inflame, infuriate, inspire, instigate, insult, ire, irritate, madden, move, motivate, offend, outrage, perturb, pique, prod, prompt, propel, quicken, rile, rouse, ruffle, set off, spur, start, stimulate, stir, tease, touch off, trigger, upset, vex and work up many people at once...

...but he was still loved.
In his last post before getting baned at SS replying to a "admin", he said:

Quote from: rjmizWhy bother? You do anything about it anyway!

We will miss his unique and motivating sense of humor.
We will miss his particular, distinctive, characteristic mode of  posting that kept things lively in the forums.
I think Bob's first action in heaven was he Photoshoped color in-to one of the white wings of the angel that greeted him to paradise.
Now will the economy allow us to redeem the "Miz Points".
Goodbye Miz , and rest in peace.
Sam.

2486 posts at SS by rjmizz Aug 04, 2005 ~ May 10, 2006
http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=3929
---
"Dead On" Sharpening Part I - or - How to stop your image from going to Heaven       
http://www.stockphotographer.info/content/blogcategory/73/121/
---
Five star ***** YouTube Photoshop Tutorial - Creating a mood with Lighting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lTH-UAWts
---
Guest Book
http://www.legacy.com/RecordOnline/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=118368265
---
Bob's public obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/RecordOnline/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=118368265

Rest in Peace MIZ

Thanks for everything MIZ, I'll miss you.  Rest in Peace.

I agree with pixelbrat. R.I.P. See you in a few years. Oh, and wherever you are now - I hope they have forums there and a computer running Photoshop.

I've only been a member a few days and I've been reading up on the past posts and learning a lot from people. MIZ has taught me more from his posts than I've learnt reading the so called top sellers sites and its a sad loss that I'll never get to banter with him and experience his wit here as I hopefully get to know people and learn more. There are few people that touch so many lives and he's certainly helped so many to find their feet in the stock world.

Terrible news. He helped me out personally a lot with Photoshop things. I enjoyed taking the piss out of him in posts and he was pretty quick witted.

I sincerely hope he has found peace, and hope his family are able to deal with their loss.

Very sad.  I really enjoyed his sense of humor.  My condolences to his family.
What a shock!

we all will miss you, MIZ

This is very sad, and also comes as a shock considering it seems no time at all since Miz was on here participating with his unique sense of humour  :D
It's always such a shame when you hear someone has lost a battle against cancer  :'(
R.I.P. Miz

rest in peace the miz gonna miss your humour and help

I don't post a lot on this forum, but i do read it from time to time.. i'll miss his posts and sense of humour. R.I.P. MIZ

oh my gosh....i am really shock to hear that The Miz died.

He can be sarcastic at times but I find him quite humorous and he has his own opinions on certain subjects which may be quite different from the general public, but he was always very helpful and willing to share his expertise. I learnt so much from him and appreciated all that he did for the photographic community. I will definitely miss his "voice".

Hello ALL.  Hopefully I didn't give anyone a heart attack. This isn't really the MIZ. I am his good friend Tony and was with him holding his hand when he died. Hon and Todd told me about this blog and as I had Bob's computer I logged on to check it out. I want to thank all of you for taking the time to view and make comments. I've known Bob for 27 years and as many of you said he could be caustic but that was Bob at times. He was always willing to give and help anyone that needed it. He even told the doctors at the cancer center that he shouldn't be there but out helping other people. He will be surely missed by all who really knew him. Again thanks to all for your comments.  :'(

Tony

Hi Tony, It made my heart rate speed up as I opened it.   It flashed through my mind that maybe the whole thing was some elaborate joke by the Miz, knowing his sense of humour.
Sorry about you losing a good friend.  He must have been a fun guy to  be around.

I was always amazed at the images that the Miz could create.  He definitely inspired me to learn more about Photoshop and creating that all-illusive "perfect" image.  In that respect, he will be missed.

For those of you that have never seen any of his "creations", you can see some of them here:

http://www.dreamstime.com/portfolio.php?clientun=rjmiz&page=&sortcriteria=6

http://www.123rf.com/profile_rjmiz

By coincidence, I logged on to disaster site MostPhotos, and I noticed that around the end of March, I had a private conversation there with theMiz. Not that long, but this was really him:

[17:53:21]   rjmiz :   u gotta come to NY where we can get u laid
[17:35:16]   Online FlemishDreams :   saw it ;-)
[13:31:21]   rjmiz :   Joined yesterday
[13:31:07]   rjmiz :   Hey I'm new here

I just now noticed why (profile photo):
(http://www.mostphotos.com/cachedimages/avatars/1232.jpg)

Take care over there Miz... wherever you are.

I was away when this thread started and have just stumbled upon it.
I can't believe it's true!
Goodbye Miz, you'll be truly missed as one of the most honest and open guys in this industry.

I was away from computer and internet on October 8-13th and only found this news today, because of the previous post.

Very sad news indeed :(

RIP