There’s a hole in all our hearts — and will be for some time. There weren’t many days when Gary and I did not see each other. He’d always stop by my office in the morning and last thing every night, and we’d recap the day. He cared about everybody and had an infallible sense of humor. He had this way of making people comfortable.
We were all at his memorial Oct. 2, and a lot of his friends — who were not people who many of us at NCIS knew — spoke. His world of people who loved and adored him was pretty wide. He was friendly with people he met when he was a production assistant, and they remained close — and they spoke as glowingly as we do.
Whenever anyone had a problem, he was the first to find a way to make it work out. Whether it was janitor or studio executive, he treated everyone equally, and that’s hard to do and so atypical.
In the end, Gary was an optimist, and that lifted our spirits. I don’t think any of us realize how valuable he was.
This story first appeared in the Oct. 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
