I'm very sad to say that Roy Disney has passed away.
Roy was Walt's nephew, even though there was often confusion because he resembled Walt more than he did his own father. Roy's dad was the financial genius to Walt's creative genius. Roy headed the animation department at Disney Studios and was responsible for many of Disney's successes over the past two or three decades; he was also Vice Chairman of Disney's Board of Directors for eons. Roy was also the guiding light behind Disney's purchase of the ABC television network and all its subsidiaries, including ESPN.
Roy's biggest love was sailing, mostly racing on one of his yachts named Pyewacket. (Pyewacket was the magical cat in the movie "Bell, Book and Candle," which wasn't even a Disney movie. Warner Brothers, as I recall.) I'm honored to have raced with Roy on Pyewacket on numerous occasions, and I mentioned here on HT a long time ago that I was shocked to see a photo of us in the Hawaii Maritime Museum taken as we crossed the Transpac Race finish line at Diamond Head. (I posted that photo here on HT somewhere, and I've added them here again, below.) There were also races to Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan.
Roy was an extremely nice guy and had no ego or pretensions at all. His office at Disney Studios looked more like a yacht club, full of racing photos (some of them were shots I'd taken) and trophies and nautical memorabilia. Except for Board meetings, Roy always wore t-shirts, jeans and TopSiders (boat shoes). Just a regular guy. One of the boys.
Roy used to own one of the TV stations here in Honolulu, KGMB if I recall correctly. At that time he owned a fabulous apartment at the Colony Surf near Diamond Head, which he later sold to Thurston Twigg-Smith. Roy was most recently in the process of building a home at the foot of Diamond Head (Kahala side) where he was going to live with his new wife, Honolulu cinematographer Leslie DeMeuse. He was also very outspoken about the sorry condition of Hawaii's harbors and marinas, and he let our government officials and our local media know about it.
Roy, you most certainly will be missed.
Roy was Walt's nephew, even though there was often confusion because he resembled Walt more than he did his own father. Roy's dad was the financial genius to Walt's creative genius. Roy headed the animation department at Disney Studios and was responsible for many of Disney's successes over the past two or three decades; he was also Vice Chairman of Disney's Board of Directors for eons. Roy was also the guiding light behind Disney's purchase of the ABC television network and all its subsidiaries, including ESPN.
Roy's biggest love was sailing, mostly racing on one of his yachts named Pyewacket. (Pyewacket was the magical cat in the movie "Bell, Book and Candle," which wasn't even a Disney movie. Warner Brothers, as I recall.) I'm honored to have raced with Roy on Pyewacket on numerous occasions, and I mentioned here on HT a long time ago that I was shocked to see a photo of us in the Hawaii Maritime Museum taken as we crossed the Transpac Race finish line at Diamond Head. (I posted that photo here on HT somewhere, and I've added them here again, below.) There were also races to Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan.
Roy was an extremely nice guy and had no ego or pretensions at all. His office at Disney Studios looked more like a yacht club, full of racing photos (some of them were shots I'd taken) and trophies and nautical memorabilia. Except for Board meetings, Roy always wore t-shirts, jeans and TopSiders (boat shoes). Just a regular guy. One of the boys.
Roy used to own one of the TV stations here in Honolulu, KGMB if I recall correctly. At that time he owned a fabulous apartment at the Colony Surf near Diamond Head, which he later sold to Thurston Twigg-Smith. Roy was most recently in the process of building a home at the foot of Diamond Head (Kahala side) where he was going to live with his new wife, Honolulu cinematographer Leslie DeMeuse. He was also very outspoken about the sorry condition of Hawaii's harbors and marinas, and he let our government officials and our local media know about it.
Roy, you most certainly will be missed.
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