Local public relations ace -- and former documenter of Milwaukee's late '60s and early '70s counterculture -- Mark Goff sent a note recently to let me know that long-standing Kaleidoscope magazine photographer Gary Ballsieper passed away on May 14 at age 60.

"Gary was the original and long-standing photographer for Kaleidoscope -- I was another Kaleidoscope photographer as well as a writer and that's when I knew him," remembers Goff. "(He) later became involved in the music scene and other community activities in Milwaukee."

Ballsieper also did a stint as the distribution manager of Kaleidoscope.

Later, Ballsieper worked with the East Side Housing Action Committee (ESHAC) and was involved with Summerfest and Irish Fest, too, according to Goff. Ballsieper also worked as a cab driver and a long-haul trucker.

In an online guest book that appeared after Ballsieper's death, a number of notable local friends posted their memories of him.

"When it came to promoting live music in Milwaukee," wrote musician Sam McCue, "Gary was always ready to do anything it took to get it produced as smoothly and professionally as possible."

"Gary had a great love of music," noted Bob Reitman. "His involvement with Free City Music, Summerfest, Irish Fest and other concert events meant very much to very many people."

And David Brannan, an occasional contributor to OnMilwaukee.com, and a relative of Ballsieper, wrote:

"Whenever something about the 'counterculture' in the 1960s and 1970s in Milwaukee, or about the Hunger Task Force, would come up in the media, Gary's name would inevitably come up, and I would say, 'That's my cousin!' Though I never really knew him, I was always, and always will be, proud of him."