It was with a very heavy heart, that CEO of Naughty Nights
Press (NNP) announced to the writers and staff that our friend and colleague,
Shane Willis, owner of RadAct Photo, book cover designer extraordinaire
and “creator of photographic visions”
had passed away on August 31st 2013.
The shock of Shane’s passing has not only devastated his
family and friends who knew him in real life, but it has also rocked the
authors of NNP, the photography community and modeling community, not to
mention those who knew him through Facebook and other social media sites.
Shane had a vision for the book covers he designed for NNP
and went above and beyond to make sure that they would capture a person’s
imagination, making them want to read what was between the covers.
His passion was such that each cover was unique in the sense
that he photographed his own models and would then add in all the little
extra’s to make sure that his model was true to the character. That could be
anything from change of eye or hair color—to adding tattoos or jewelry.
Shane became revolutionary when it came to digital eBooks by
photographing his own models and not relying on stock photos or drawings,
though there were times where he did use the odd stock photo but that was a
rare occasion.
Each new cover would excite him (even the ones that were
more difficult with detail).
Shane not only had a love of photography which can be seen
in his published photo’s but also a love of writing. Alas he left us before he
could see his dreams as an author realized and I have it on very good authority
that they were excellent manuscripts.
It is hard to sum up what Shane Willis meant to each and
every one of us without using the words “love”, “admire”, “inspirational” and
“wonderful”, “creative”, “funny” and “a true friend”.
So I am going to end this tribute to Rodney Shane Willis
with this.
Tears form at the mere mention or thought of you.
You were taken from this world far too early.
Never will you be forgotten.
Always to be remembered.
May the beauty you gave to us be forever treasured.
The world is a much quieter and duller one
Now that you have gone.
R.I.P Shane Willis
We all love you and will miss you,
Naughty Nights Press (NNP)
If you were one of the lucky ones to know Shane, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Visit Rad Act Photo to view the vast range of photographs and book covers Shane has created.
