Bob Klepner

[gameswat]

but I assume this is the same Bob who used “Bob” as his sign in on here.

Yes, one and the same.

[ddstoys]

Yes definitely a tragic loss. Such a beautiful helpful man, as Rory said he would go above and beyond to help anyone he could. I hadn’t know Bob for nearly as long as gameswat, but had caught up with him and his lovely wife Bev at their home in Melbourne and had both of them over to my place several times.

You could see the excitement in his eyes when he came into my shed and looked at my machines - he truly did love them.

Very sad indeed ,
RIP Bob

[mclemore]

As mentioned above, Bob was 'one of the true gentlemen of our hobby'. He was always gracious, always helpful, always friendly, and always passionate about his interests. He clearly had a huge scholarly interest in the machines too. He was always happy to answer the phone when people called, and I was always happy to hear from him when he called.

I was fortunate enough to have dinner with him (and his wife) at their home in August. It was the first time (after so many years) that I actually got to meet him in person. Of course he and his wife were perfect hosts.

I've known for a many years that he wanted to work on a book (either by himself or with another collector) about Mutoscopes. Obviously, he never got around to it. Now it did catch me by surprise to learn how much he actually -did- write about coin-op machine (for magazines). See the first page from one of these articles, attached.

So sorely missed...

[JC]

I know this is very late, but I just wanted to add my two old penny-worth. From the time I started the magazine, Bob always kept in touch. He gave me much assistance on many occasions, in particular on the subjects of mutoscopes and BAC machines. We generally communicated by email, but there were several occasions that he took the trouble to phone me from the other side of the world. I've certainly been the recipient of his generosity and passion for the hobby, as mentioned by others.
Although it's been a few years now since I ceased publication of the magazine, we still kept in touch from time to time - it's probably about six months since we communicated. I always asked how 'the book' was coming along - the answer has been the same for some time - that he had done all the research that he could with the cast iron machines and that it was now down to Larry over in America. I understand Larry was concentrating on the Rabkin era - the 'tinnies'. I hope, as I'm sure we all do, that Larry is close to publication.
I'm sad that I was never able to meet Bob, but very thankful that I knew him for a good number of years. Yet another of the Titans of our hobby is no longer with us.

Jerry