Bob died around 2PM today from a large inoperable brain tumor at age 71. The
Moog modular/MiniMoog was the (not "a", 'THE') reason I switched from being a
chemistry/biology/physics nerd to an EE geek. Bob was always very nice and
polite to me, last NAMM I attended (2003) he actually wandered over to my booth
and asked to borrow my soldering iron.

The first time I met him was in 1983 at the AES convention (Audio Engineering
Society). The room wasn't that crowded, but I was towards the back. I was
reading the program when somebody sat next to me (which was sort of odd, there
were lots of empty chairs) and I look up and damn near had a heart attack. Even
though I was on the Tandy MG-1 project, I never dealt with Bob, it was David 'Mr
PolyMoog' Luce. He probably thought I was ill because I was shaking like a leaf
and when I tried to speak I croaked like a frog. But he was very nice and
polite, considering just how many times people like me babble on and on to him
(20 years later at NAMM, there were over 150 people waiting in line babbling the
SAME STUFF).

As a side note, at that same AES I was leaving the bathroom, turning a corner
out into the main exhibit hall, and Wendy Carlos and Dominic Molano (that big
tall dude that was editor of Keyboard, he's like 6' 10") literally ran smack
into me, trying to run from a pack of synth geeks (they went "out of bounds"
back behind the exhibits, pretty funny).

My biggest "Moog highlight" though was at my second NAMM show, and there was
this really big, noisy and over-crowded 'reception' in a tent. The place was
absolutely jammed, and I wandered by myself way off to the far corner by this
potted plant and there were 4 chairs empty. I sat in one, grabbed a beer, and
PLOP, here sits Bob Moog. Now, his booth was 20 feet from mine, and we waved at
each other but I never really talked to him that much. We chatted for like 20
seconds, and then here comes Roger Powell, Tom Oberheim and Dave Smith. Here are
all these famous synth designers and one of the best rock keyboard players ever
and *ME* (the former chemistry nerd that shot Estes rockets) sitting around and
chatting.

I wish Bob's family well and hope Big Briar lives on.

Paul S.