The
photograph of my senmurv jardiniere that Bob had long used as his profile
picture on Facebook (© Dr Karl Shuker)
I was extremely sad to learn yesterday that my
longstanding online friend and fellow cryptozoological enthusiast Robert
Michaels had passed away, on 27 February. He was 85. Our friendship dated back
almost to the very beginning of my own online presence, when I first signed up
to the internet in 1997.
A qualified zoologist himself, graduating from
Columbia University, Bob was passionately interested in all aspects of
cryptozoology and was not just a very good friend to me but also an unwavering
supporter of my work and a prolific communicator to the whole cryptozoological
community via his numerous, continuing postings of fascinating news reports on
my various cryptozoology-based FB groups - which is why, when Bob's postings
stopped abruptly in February, with not a single one appearing anywhere since
then, I became increasingly worried for his well-being and therefore posted a
series of urgent requests on my timeline, on my groups, and on his own timeline
for any information concerning his status. Thankfully, another good friend,
Jane Cooper, who was also one of Bob's FB friends, duly investigated this on my
behalf and on 10 August uncovered the sad news of his passing. Thank you so
much, Jane, I greatly appreciate your kindness in doing this.
Just one of the countless encouraging, supportive comments that Bob so kindly posted about me and my work on Facebook - thanks Bob!
Bob never posted an
image of himself on his Facebook timeline, and since December 2014 he had used as
his FB profile picture one of my photographs of my 19th-Century
majolica jardiniere in the shape of a senmurv (aka cynogriffin). Consequently,
from now on I shall always associate that photo, and indeed my senmurv
jardiniere itself, with Bob, and I am therefore reproducing it here in tribute
to him.
God bless you, Bob, for your friendship, and for
your ever-present enthusiasm for cryptozoology and my own contributions to it -
although we never met, and the great breadth of the Atlantic Ocean separated us
in the real world, due to the modern miracle of the internet and social media
you became a very close friend in the full sense of that word, and how very
much I shall miss hearing from you and seeing your always-interesting,
greatly-valued postings on FB. RIP Bob, you were one of the good guys, and I
promise you that I will ensure through my writings that your name and your
unstinting service to cryptozoology live on.
Bob's
favourite cryptozoology-linked book, my Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals (© Dr Karl Shuker/Coachwhip
Publications)
I'm not sure how much I interacted with him in Facebook cryptozoo groups but it's always something special when you can now forge friendships with people on the opposite side of the planet more easier than before with the internet - and now hits even harder when friends on the other side of the planet die.
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