On the evening of 15 October 2019, the president of the New York Mineralogical Club (NYMC), Mitchell F. Portnoy, passed away peacefully after battling an aggressive and rapidly spreading form of lymphoma. He was only sixty-three. Born on 12 May 1956, he grew up in Merrick, Long Island. As early as junior high school, he evidenced an interest in minerals, attending mineral shows at the Freeport Armory with his teacher.