Morgan Cashman rolled into Vegas and became the King of Photography. He passed away a few years ago but his legacy will be remembered forever. With a keen mind for business and a childlike love for novelty, he had concessions in nearly every hotel on the strip.

The year was 1999, a few months before the start of millenium fever, when I flew into Vegas from Los Angeles solely for the purpose of meeting Mr. C. My only goal was to demonstrate some new technology that I believed would be good for his company. Prior to that trip, I had only spoken to him a few times on the phone. He’d call whenever one of his video guys needed needed some kind of accessory for a wedding or special event shoot. Sometimes it was just for advice or if something wasn’t working properly. I guess I became his video “go-to-guy” for all things video related. Of course, there was always a never ending stream of people in his office when he’d call, some of them chiming in and gradually I came to understand who did what at the company. That was Morgan’s managerial style, when he met with a vendor or anyone with a business opportunity, he liked to have his trusted team of people in the room, and that office could hold a lot of people.

I already formulated in my mind, what type of personality Morgan was just by the way he spoke on the phone. He was a throwback to a time when political and correctness were two words that never appeared together in the same sentence. But I was no stranger to bosses like Mr. C, I grew up surrounded by men like him and his booming voice, quick wit and huge ego was refreshing to me. He reminded me of my Uncle Charlie, loud and abrasive at times, brash, charming and unfiltered. My take-away from our first encounter, If you needed a photo, or photo service while in sin city, he was the only game in town. Indeed, he absolutely cornered the market and was always restlessly looking for new ways to make more money. He. was polished in appearance and blessed with unmatched relationship building skills, and he always made the person he was meeting with, the center of the universe. Cashman’s dominance of the photo services market was by no means, a small feat when you consider Las Vegas was and still is one of the most photogenic destinations in the world. How’d he do it, I wondered before our first face to face? I was eager to know more.

A few weeks later, my girlfriend Stephanie (later my wife) and I came to town for a quick visit. Morgan picked us up at the airport and proceeded to take us on a whirlwind journey through a dozen hotels. First MGM, then Flamingo, a quick ride or two on a rollercoaster and then up to the top of the Stratosphere tower, the highest point in Vegas. Sample all of the rides at the top and leave with our complimentary photo, then a quick descent to the ground floor where he says upon exit from the elevator, “Lets meet Karen and the others at my office”, so off to Cashman HQ but first, “Let’s grab a doughnut to munch on”. At each stop, we took a picture and had a nosh, mostly junk foods like doughnuts, a piece of cake, a soft pretzel, and that was just fine with the both of us. Of course, we also took lots and lots of photos. There were photos in front of green screens, photos printed in stores, photos spit out of selfie-taking photo machines and in kiosks, photos printed on mugs and keychains, it was a non-stop photo party. He had the stamina of a teenager, despite a 30 year age difference. Stephanie and I were struggling to keep up.

The last stop before the airport was the New York New York Roller Coaster. I still laugh every time I see that photo he took of us. Especially the expression on my wife’s face (who is deathly afraid of coasters)as we are barreling down the tracks.

I would later be given a generous opportunity to become his partner and get to know him much better, but from that day on, there was never any mistaking Morgan from anyone else you ever knew or ever would know in the future.

Morgan was memorable, like meeting the president or a movie star memorable. A few minutes in his presence, no matter what else happened to you before your encounter, or later when you went about your business, your time with him was time never forgotten.

Morgan Cashman was bigger than life, a no-apologies, one-of-a-kind, straight-talking, fun-loving, thrill-seeking stand-out, in a cookie cutter, impossibly woke, world. Where have all the Morgan Cashman’s gone?