Eric Michael Nguyen, 1978-2007  

Eric shooting tiered shelf on June 7, 2005 in South Dakota

 

My friend and storm chase partner Eric Nguyen passed away on September 9, 2007.  I loved Eric like a brother and I'll miss him every day for the rest of my life. 

Eric touched many lives with his generosity of spirit and his art, some of the most expressive and resonant weather photographs ever taken.  Eric was a scientist and an artist, a brilliant forecaster, designer, engineer, and programmer.  Eric always tried to make his friends laugh, and his passion for science and photographic art was an inspiration to those who admired him from afar and especially those lucky enough to know him well.

For me, Eric was synonymous with chasing.  I rarely chased a day without either riding in the same car, caravanning with him, or talking to him on the phone if he was in a different target or wasn't chasing at all (the latter of which were usually busts for me).  In the last few years, Eric and I chased together frequently, and it was an honor to ride with him.  I knew I was damn lucky to be his chase partner; he was the best of his generation.  His dedication to artful imagery, responsible reporting, and the full enjoyment of the sky made me seek a standard I wouldn't have otherwise known.

Eric never lost his wonder at the majesty of severe weather.  On May 22nd of this year, near the striated Hill City, Kansas storm, Eric said, "This is once-in-a-lifetime structure.  I'm getting out of the car to stand under the structure."

Eric was my friend apart from chasing, as well, having returned to Texas with his wife and children in the summer of 2005.  I still glance at my phone around 5:10 PM each day expecting Eric to call and make fun of other drivers or give an excited account about flooded streets and manhole covers floating away.  Eric loved Italian food and horror movies, and was looking forward to a winter trip to Rome at the end of 2007.  I don't know anybody who loved life more than Eric.

Maybe only after a person is gone can we fully perceive the scale of their importance by the scope of their absence, the yawning vacuum and extended silences.  I hope that in my own art, in either fiction or nonfiction, I can render Eric's spirit on the page and offer a small portion of the gifts he gave me in life, and even in his death.  I anticipate those moments when I recognize his singular humor and profound empathy in the  characters I imagine and the stories I tell.

Goodbye for now, my brother.  Thank you for sharing so much of your remarkable life with me.  I'll see you under the structure, Eric.

 

 


Photo-Video Montage Tribute to Eric Nguyen (1978-2007)

Eric's Website, mesoscale.ws

Eric Nguyen Memorial Endowed Scholarship

Tribute from Dr. Charles A. Doswell III

Tribute video from Scott Currens

Discussion on Stormtrack

Eric Nguyen Gathering homepage

Pictures from Eric Nguyen Gathering September 22, 2007

Eric's Gempak Maps page

 Eric's Biography & Other Pages Through the Years

(Eric changed his bio and other webpages each year.  We've elected to keep his website as he left it, but these pages, imported from the Wayback Internet Archive, show the evolution of Eric's enthusiasm, knowledge, and passion for storm observing from the time he started as a teenager until he matured into one of the best chasers of his generation.  It's important to note that these old entries don't necessarily reflect Eric's opinions in later life.  I present them only as historical documents of interest. )

Biography 1999
Credits 1999
Eric's "Disclaimer" 1999
Eric's "Educational" Page 1999
Biography 2000
Biography 2001
Eric's "Disclaimer" 2001
Biography 2002
Biography 2003
Biography 2004
Biography 2005
ERIC'S MOST RECENT BIOGRAPHY


Adventures in Tornado Alley: The Storm Chasers by Mike Hollingshead and Eric Nguyen,
now available for pre-order on Amazon.com

See the main page from publisher Thames & Hudson

 

Storms of 2007 charity DVD

Three of mine and Eric's chases (3-28, 4-13, 4-21) are featured on this DVD including our footage from immediately after the Tulia, Texas tornado when we were struck by a high-end F2.  The producers were also kind enough to allow us to create a short tribute video to Eric and his photography.  I'm deeply grateful to Mickey Ptak and the producers for allowing us to honor Eric this way. 

All profits from this DVD go to disaster relief charities.  Please consider it as a holiday gift. 

The DVD will be available after November 15, 2007.

 

 

Photo Gallery
This is collection of images *of* Eric taken by friends and chasers through the years.  Pictures Eric took himself, of
tornadoes and severe storms, remain on his website at mesoscale.ws as they appeared previously.  I'm collecting
these images so they're available for his family, especially his sons, Sean and Christopher, who were not old enough to
have chased with their father, and for Eric's friends to recall the joy with which Eric engaged his lifelong passion of
storm observing.  If you have a picture you'd like to add to the collection, please send it along and I'll add it to the gallery. 
I'm grateful to those whose names appear below for use of their imagery.  -AM

Eric with his son Sean

May 1998, courtesy Clinton Norwood

May 1998, courtesy Clinton Norwood

May 1998, courtesy Clinton Norwood

May 1998, courtesy Clinton Norwood

May 1998, courtesy Clinton Norwood

in Norman, 1998 (?), courtesy Dave Fick

courtesy Dave Fick

courtesy Dave Fick

1999 (?) Eric after a chaser party at his parents home, courtesy Glenn Dixon

1999 (?) Eric, Steve Miller, Glenn Dixon, Blair Kooistra, courtesy Glenn Dixon

1998 video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998 video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998 video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998 video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998 video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998, Eric with Glenn Dixon, video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998, Eric with Glenn Dixon, video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998, Eric with Glenn Dixon, video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

1998 video grab courtesy Blair Kooistra

Building one of his first weather stations, 1999, courtesy David Fick

1999, courtesy David Fick

out chasing in 1999, courtesy David Fick

1999, courtesy David Fick

May 1998, Eric by his old car

2001(?), Eric in Norman,

June 3, 2001

June 3, 2001

June 3, 2001

June 3, 2001

June 3, 2001

June 14 2001, chasing in Kansas

June 14 2001, chasing in Kansas

Nov 23, 2001, Eric and Scott waiting for initiation, courtesy Jason Politte

Nov 23, 2001, Eric and Scott waiting for initiation, courtesy Jason Politte

Feb 8 2002 in Colorado, courtesy Jeff Lawson

February 8, 2002, Eric in the snow, courtesy Jeff Lawson

Feb 8, 2002, Amos and Eric in Rocky Mountans

Feb 8 2002, Denver, CO, courtesy Jeff Lawson

eating sunflower seeds, October 2002, courtesy of Aaron Kennedy

May 3, 2002

April 5, 2003, sampling hail, courtesy Scott Currens

April 4, 2003

April 5, 2003, courtesy Scott Currens

in New Mexico, courtesy Scott Currens

June 2003, courtesy Jeff Lawson

May 9, 2004 courtesy Scott Eubanks

August 2004, courtesy Scott Currens

August 2004, courtesy Scott Currens

August 2004, courtesy Scott Currens

August 2004, courtesy Scott Currens

August 2004, courtesy Scott Currens

August 2004, courtesy Scott Currens

Eric, Scott Currens, and Amos, May 2004 courtesy Scott Eubanks

June 3, 2003 near Mosquero, NM; courtesy Jeff Lawson

June 2003, courtesy Jeff Lawson

June 2003, courtesy Jeff Lawson

June 2003, courtesy Jeff Lawson

May 2004, courtesy Jeff Lawson

April 9, 2005 at Vista in Norman

courtesy Scott Eubanks

courtesy Scott Eubanks

courtesy Scott Eubanks

April 10, 2005 northwest Kansas

May 13, 2005, waiting near the Kettle wifi hotspot in Childress, Texas

May 2005, courtesy Scott Eubanks

May 2005, courtesy Scott Eubanks

May 15, 2005, New Mexico

May 17, 2005, courtesy Scott Eubanks

May 18, 2005, Eric with Jon Van de Grift, courtesy Tony Laubach

May,18 2005,courtesy Tony Laubach

May 18, 2005, Eric and Scott B., courtesy Tony Laubach

May 23 2005, Eric and Scott preparing to launch a balloon

May 25, 2005, courtesy Scott Currens

May 2005, Amos, Eric, Scott Currens, courtesy Scott Eubanks

June 9, 2005, Eric after Hill City tornado, courtesy Scott Blair

June 12, 2005 courtesy of Jason Politte

Steve Vanderburg and Eric, courtesy Bob Fritchie

Steve Vanderburg, Eric, Bob Fritchie

Steve Vanderburg, Eric, Bob Fritchie August, 2005 courtesy Rachael Sigler

September 2005, courtesy Graham Butler

September 2005, courtesy Graham Butler

September 2005, courtesy Graham Butler

September 2005, courtesy Graham Butler

September 2005, courtesy Graham Butler

April 23, 2006 in Kansas

April 23, 2006 in Kansas

April 23, 2006 in Kansas

May 5, 2006 near Patricia, Texas

June 6, 2006, courtesy Scott Eubanks

June 6, 2006, courtesy Scott Eubanks

courtesy Scott Blair

February 24, 2007, Hail Brothers, courtesy Scott Currens

April 22, 2007, Amos and Eric in Tulia, Texas, courtesy Bob Fritchie

June 6, 2007 Eric Meets Jim Reed in Valentine, Nebraska, courtesy Jim Reed

 

 

"Okay. Two of 'em. Both had my father. It's peculiar. 
I'm older now'n he ever was by twenty years. 
So in a sense he's the younger man. 
Anyway, first [dream] I don't remember so well 
but it was about money and I think I lost it. 
The second one, it was like we was both back 
in older times and I was on horseback goin through 
the mountains of a night. 
Goin through this pass in the mountains. It was cold 
and snowin, hard ridin. Hard country. He rode past me 
and kept on goin. Never said nothin 
goin by. He just rode on 
past and he had his blanket wrapped around him 
and his head down.
And when he rode past I seen he was carryin fire 
in a horn the way people used to do and 
I could see the horn from the light inside of it. 
About the color of the moon. And in the dream 
I knew that he was goin on ahead 
and that he was fixin to make a fire 
somewhere out there in all that dark 
and all that cold, and I knew that whenever 
I got there he would be there. Out there up ahead."
--Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men