Hillman Curtis wrote the book on Flash web design, designed some of the earliest animated websites, and then left the technnology completely to focus on much larger corporate websites. For those of us who always feel one or two steps behind the ever-evolving web, Hillman managed to stay one or two steps ahead. When he felt satisfied with his contribution to web design, Hillman then moved on to making short films specifically for the web. He interviewed some of designs most important contemporaries like David Carson, Paula Scher, and Stefan Sagmeister. He made commercials for IBM and SVA. He made a feature film, and was working on another. And I watched every one of them, just has I have followed his entire career, wondering how one person can constantly redefine his own work and redirect his own life’s path. That sense of autonomy is what makes people like me envious of people like Hillman. Hillman lost his battle with cancer last Wednesday, April 18, 2012. He is still my hero, and I know he will be missed by many.