larry-subscribe@skylineinteractive.com
 

Gabreal: Let me know if there is some major block in Larry's career that I've left out. I'd like this history/eulogy to cover his accomplishments and spirit.
 

 Thanks,  Steve
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 When I moved to the Bay area in 1972 it was hard to find a job in the television industry. After a few months searching I met Larry Seehorn one of the founders of Television Associates in Mountain View California. 
 Larry hired me as quad video tape editor. On the first day I reported for work he threw me in with a client at TV Associates with about 10 minutes of prep. "Baptism by fire" he said, "it's the fastest way to learn anything". 

 I will always be grateful to Larry as the person who opened doors and helped me along the way in my career. I've done that myself for quite a few people over the years but Larry was the one who taught me to listen to and respect everyone you meet. He truly cared about people and it's a lesson I'll never forget.

 We had an instant rapport as Larry always made people feel comfortable. Pretty soon he was Larry Sea-breeze and I was Stevie-One Pass, the name he gave me because of my techniques using masking tape to do repeatable frame accurate edits on a 2" piece of quad video tape. Of course computers for post-production hadn't been developed yet, but all of this created ideas for Larry which occupied his mind continuously.

 Larry left for a while to work in Europe for HP and when he returned a year or so later he had a plywood mock-up and tape with location footage of what was to be the first portable "self contained" hand held broadcast video camera, the RCA TK-76. I fell in love with the concept and freedom of location video and decided to purchase one and start my own production company later to be called One Pass Video. Once again Larry was always
 on the cutting edge of technology, sometimes the "bleeding" edge.

 Naturally, following the cameras, it was apparent that one needed to do the editing and even though there were computer editing systems already available from CMX, Larry felt he could make a better mousetrap. With no capital, just heart, he launched the aptly named EPIC. At night after a long day of sessions Larry rolled what looked like a patient in intensive care out of the backroom and hooked up the tubes and cables to bring it to life.
 Most people said he was crazy, something he would hear often, but nevertheless, like Howard Hughes and the Spruce Goose Larry would make the EPIC fly... and fly it did. Most people agreed that it was the most sophisticated editor on the market, it just never was adopted by the majority of broadcasters.

 Along with the EPIC came probably Larry's most influential early program for converting video frames to film edge numbers. It was first used on the movie Apocalypse Now and Larry became Francis Coppola's Director of Electronic Cinematography.
 It was the first time that title, and the department he ran, was ever used on a major motion picture.

 Then there was the MIDAS system. With personal computers now on the scene Larry, Garbreal Franklin and I started a company to offer logging, capture, scripting and database organization of clips on a PC. Like most of Larry's creations it was another brilliant idea.... fully 10 years ahead of its time.

 Control Video was next and this company had funding and management. As head of engineering Larry created his new touch screen editor "Lightfinger" that could cue up more VTR's with the touch of a single button than anybody could ever want. The EPIC was also part of Control Video. Larry had become accustomed to pushing himself day and night, tracking down bugs, rewriting code, trying new features and generally running himself into the ground. His stroke was an unfortunate consequence of this drive to get things done. No one worked harder than Larry, and in the end it became clear that he demanded more of himself than he was able to provide. 

 Working his way back from a devastating stroke was typical Larry as well. This time he knew his limits a little better, and he was able to recover and carry on with his life in a productive way. 

 A friend to all who knew him, a creative thinker who never worked "in the box", Larry Seahorn should be remembered as an extraordinary human being who's life was full with passion and drive at every level. We will miss you Larry, thanks for inspiring so many of us.

 Steve Michelson
 October 23, 2006