Barry, Ed Johnston here. I’ve been in Texas for 5 months and just got the terrible news. My heart is broken. I’m just gutted. I’m sending so much love and support to you and Ruby and Avery. Little Renée was my soulmate, my sister, my beloved. She was one of the truest, wisest, kindest people I’ve ever known. And one of the most courageous. Our friendship was grounded in our similar backgrounds and imprinting and world views and we both walked the path of the seeker, always ready to explore new roads, particularly spiritual ones, together. Her spiritual insights were always profound, and one day years ago I told her ‘Ya know you’d be an amazing therapist…’ She grinned and said, ‘Well, actually, I’ve been thinking about that… ‘ Well, of course she had!!! That same instinctual insight into human behavior, that ability to observe the depths of one’s soul that made her such a brilliant casting director ….also made her such a gifted therapist. We met in college, at SMU, in the late Seventies. Renee and my cousin Wendy were roommates and I’d hang out with them on rainy Saturday afternoons listening to music like Michael Franks’ ‘Popsicle Toes. There may have been some green smoke floating about…after all, it was the Seventies! Years passed and Renee evolved from actress to casting director in LA while I evolved from petroleum landman to casting director in Dallas. Somehow we both ended up at Disney/Touchstone Studios as Casting Execs, staring work on the exact same day. We Re connected, became fast friends, allies against the machine, and soon were joined at the hip. We shared a lotta laughs, and tears, as good fiends do. Renee was one of the first people I came out to, and she lifted me up with her unconditional love and support. I remember when she first said to me, ‘So you know that friend Barry I’ve told you about? Um, well, he might be more than just a friend….’ She said this with a Cheshire Cat grin on her face! I remember your beautiful wedding at the Bel-Air. Renee’s SMU gaggle gathered at my place and we all attended the wedding together, singing the ‘Renée’ song from college. Donna Bullock, Wendy Welch, Paul Mullens, and I insisted on singing it to her just before the wedding. “Renée, Renée, the prettiest girl we know, Renée, Renée, she wears the nicest clothes, Renée, Renée, she has a nice A-part-ment, Renée, Renée, Renée!” She quietly glared at us. She hated that song. But on her wedding day, I think she mighta liked it. Because she was the prettiest girl in the world that day, just like the song said. You made her laugh, Barry. So much. She loved that about you. So did I! And just look at the two beautiful daughters y’all molded and raised. Renee is smiling with such love for her family. And for her friends. Can you feel her love? I do. Last night I was trying to meditate through my tears, visualizing my dear Little Renee. Suddenly in the middle of my meditation there was a bright splash of light that was the color of the early morning sky: light blue. It lingered. I’d never experienced this in my 15 years as a meditator. I thought, or mumbled, ‘Little Renee’, and received this huge burst of joy. I felt Renee. My soul recognized her. She was star tripping, soaring, light as a feather, amorphous, happy, happy, happy. At least I feel that is so. What a gift. She was such an evolved soul, I don’t know why she was taken from us so early, it sucks. Maybe her evolved soul had done its work this time around and that beautiful spirit of hers was needed to help others evolve like she had. Beautiful thought. And it still sucks. Her loss is palpable, visceral, for all of us who loved her. I send you and Ruby and Avery (and Susan) the biggest of Texas bear hugs. I’m lifting you up with my love and support. I wish I could hop on a red eye tonight in order to attend the memorial tomorrow but an ailing parent keeps me in Texas for another 3-4 weeks. Please know I’m there with you and if I can help in any way, please reach out. I’m just so…damn…sorry, Barry. I loved and adored my Little Renee so much. Love to you and the kids. Xoxo