There has been a tremendous feeling of numbness for everyone at Powerboat magazine as we honor the work of friend and colleague Tom Newby. Trying to encapsulate his work in one issue hardly seems fair, especially for a man whose life can be measured in volumes, not pages.

We lost chief photographer Tom Newby and videographer Mark Copeland on Sept. 11 in a helicopter accident at our Performance Trials in Sarasota, Fla. They were doing what they do best—capturing images of a catamaran—when the Bell JetRanger copter crashed in the ocean.

Longtime test driver Bob Teague and Jennifer Zuknich, a friend who modeled for us that day, made a heroic effort to save Newby and Copeland. Paramedics, firefighters and doctors tried valiantly to no avail. The lone survivor was helicopter pilot Mark Watters, who is making a remarkable recovery from his serious injuries.

It's easy to speculate on why it happened (for the record no one knows, and it could take more than a year for the official report). No matter what, we will remember Tom for the indelible mark he left on the magazine and his unwavering love for his family and enthusiasm for life.

To know what Tom's favorite photo was, you had to look no further than the screen saver on his laptop computer. There, Tom's favorite subjects—his sons, Weston, 12, and William, 9—were on full display. The smiles on the kids' faces told a story, one of a loving family. Through his lens, a proud father captured the many adventures he shared with his sons whether it was surfing, scuba diving or sailing in exotic destinations.

Having grown up in the Southern California community of Manhattan Beach, Tom felt it was important to instill in his sons the same passion for the sea.

When you look through his work for Powerboat, he had talent that went far beyond his formal photography training at Brooks College in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was a perfectionist and rarely tolerated shortcuts.

We have come to learn that Mark Copeland shared many of the same traits. To be honest, most of us had not met Mark until the morning of the crash. But talking with his family we discovered he developed a passion for news (video) photography in high school and went on to do television and movie work. He covered stories from the original Desert Storm war to Mother Teresa's funeral, and won an Emmy for his work.

As we grieve the loss of these two fine men, we also recognize that we have to move forward with publishing this magazine. A few colleagues have told us, "Tom would want you to do it." The statement sounds callous, but the truth is Tom would tell us to finish the job.

So the magazine you have before you features one of Tom's last assignments for Powerboat—the 19th annual Lake Rescue Shootout in Missouri. Missing from this issue is our first installment of the 2008 Performance Trials.

Because of the tragedy, we cancelled all of our tests in Arizona and Florida. New tests are slated for early December, with the first evaluations to appear in the February issue. We plan to announce the Awards for Product Excellence winners as usual in the June issue.

While returning to the boat-testing program will be emotional for many of us, it's at the core of what we do. We are determined to deliver the same great boat evaluations and world-class photos that have become the hallmark of the magazine. I'll be the first to tell you that every photographer after Tom has a tough act to follow. But I'm also confident they can rise to the challenge.

A good friend told me this would be the toughest column I would ever have to write. Writing about great people is easy. The toughest part is knowing they are no longer a part of our lives.