This is the first I'm hearing of Tony passing and I am devastated. When I was 11 to 13 years old I would walk to Empire comics every day (sometimes I would skip a day) and talk with Tony for hours. I would buy one or two comics each time, and this was in the late 80's so comics were seventy five cents. He was definitely earning his money . He would have to kick me out sometimes lest loose his mind from having to listen to me. I was a very chatty kid. During the first year I would come in he would lock me out of the store when he had to go to the post office or get lunch or whatever, but I would be waiting when he came back. But after a year or so he would just bring me along. Tony was my best friend. I didn't have any friends as a kid. I was a little nerdy and I went to a private school so I didn't know the kids in my neighborhood. Tony was my only friend for those years, and he was a really good friend. His figure looms large in my childhood, and when I tell stories about it "Tony the guy who worked at the comic store" comes up as a necessary part of it. I was coming in to Rochester this week and was just looking on line to see if Empire Comics was still opened. It's been a few years since I've seen Tony, and now to know I never will again is awful. I wish I could tell him how much he meant to me. He was a really great guy.