It's been thirteen days since the passing of our founder and my much better half, Billy Miller. He is missed terribly in all ways-- always. Billy passed on early Sunday morning, November 13, on the perigee of a much vaunted supermoon. That fact is a distraction, but is not a passing curiosity, as we have considered each full moon with humility since 2012's October full moon made a monster out of Hurricane Sandy. Since then, we've marked life's ebb and flow on each luna plena, with hopeful victories and hard defeats, particularly with Billy's battle with complications from multiple myeloma. Billy fought hard to beat the odds of bone marrow cancer, odds which we both refused to accept. We were shooting for complete recovery, despite multiple fractures, kidney failure, amputation, and two hip replacements. Two years of radiation, chemotherapy, and dialysis, eventually proved too hard on Billy's system. He was working until the last day, planning record releases, pricing records for the Norton Record Shop (which awaited his arrival for exactly one year) and working with Michael Hurtt, his co-conspirator in their Fortune Records label history.

I'm sending this notice brief and quick, in response to many from around the globe who are sharing their disbelief and also wondering what could possibly snatch such a positive, life-loving guy from our midst. Friends know I could expound on the merits of Billy Miller from now until doomsday-- no worries-- ramblings are sure to come when my feet find steady ground. Soon, and most likely peppered with Latin phrases and annoying references to the heavens. Billy wouldn't have it any other way.

Billy's wicked sense of humor and easy going demeanor belied his unstoppable drive and determination. It's extremely hard for me to consider life without Billy, but I plan to see his many projects to completion, each in a way that would exceed his wildest expectations. It's too early to predict exactly where we will go with the label, but it looks almost certain that theNorton Records shop will close on the first anniversary of its official opening. The reason it existed to begin with was for Billy to hold court in, once he got back on his feet. Now that the record shop dream has wound down, it feels right to let it go. If anyone disagrees, please let us know your thoughts. We will work through the winter on projects that were in the mix with Billy at the helm. My hope is that since he took my heart with him, maybe an equal avoir du pois of his loving, relentless drive will come my way. If in future days, things seem to you, dear Nortonian, to be moving in an un-Billyesque direction, please let us know.

Billy will forever be the guiding, rocking light for the Norton Records label, and the loving inspiration for the rest of my days.