See You in the Trees.

Location scouting with David Lynch on “Twin Peaks: The Return.”

A sad day today with the passing of David Lynch. I was extremely fortunate to work with him on “Twin Peaks: The Return.” I consider it the highlight of my professional career.

David was remarkable to be around. We first met many months before The Return went into production, when he and his producer Sabrina came up for some early location scouting. Upon meeting him, the first thing he did was compliment my handshake.

We spent several days sneakily touring many of the original Twin Peaks locations, and investigating new ones. He loved soft serve ice cream, and was ecstatic when we stopped at a Dairy Queen. He also smoked like a chimney. Sabrina had warned me of this, so I carefully removed the “no smoking” sticker from the interior of our rental car. After he departed, I spent a couple hours scrubbing out the smell.

During production, he’d often give me a Gordon Cole-style “thumbs up” when he saw me. The last time we spoke was the final night of filming in Washington. I shook his hand after camera wrap. He gave me one last thumbs up and said “Dave, you’re one in a million.” Kinder words have rarely been spoken.

This picture is the only one I have with him, but it’s a beauty. Snapped on one of those early location scouts, overlooking Mt Si. See you in the trees, David!