A.J. Rizzo died Saturday, February 26, 2005, at home in Metairie, La. at 66 years old. A.J. was a colleague of mine. He was a marine writer par excellence who valued the written word and used it to great advantage for his clients. I first met A.J. in 1986 when I came to New Orleans as editor of Workboat. In 1984, A.J. established Anderson & Rizzo, an advertising and public relations firm that had Halter Marine Services as a major client. Before establishing his own firm, A.J. was director of communications for Halter. He was sort of a walking encyclopedia of all things marine. He was there when the oil industry was booming and survived the mid-1980's downturn.