My deepest condolences to the Lemke family. The hobby has lost a true giant. Bob was a friend of mine for decades and I simply could not have had a higher opinion of him, or a greater appreciation for his enormous contributions to the field. We had many correspondences over the years. Here is an excerpt from a letter I sent to him on May 16, 2015 in response to an email of congratulations and kind words he wrote to me about the then-most recent auction. In this particular letter I happened to have the opportunity to express directly to him my appreciation for his great role and extraordinary contributions to the hobby. I thought this would be an appropriate time and place to share. RIP Bob. Your friend always, Rob L
Hi Bob! Great to hear from you!
Thank you for your note and most important: thank YOU for your immeasurable contributions to the field! …I have always tried to keep the true spirit of the hobby alive in the pages of our catalogs – the same spirit that has always been embodied in all of your hobby work. The new collectors – I’m not 100% sure they fully understand where all the assembly, organization, and documenting of this knowledge for the benefit of all comes from (and all this work is a big part of what makes the field so interesting and great) – but they DO know it comes from somewhere (much of it from your efforts!) and they do very much appreciate learning about hobby history for this reason. I’m not sure if I ever properly communicated this to you, but when I think of Bob Lemke, I ALWAYS think (and always say to others): If there were a Mount Rushmore of hobby figures who have contributed to the field most, and have made the most significant and long-lasting positive impact, in my opinion you would be one of the few celebrated members of this elite group, along with Jefferson Burdick, Charles Bray, and no doubt a few others. SCD and The Standard Catalog are two of the primary building blocks upon which the hobby as we know it has been built! The hobby has changed a lot over the years – some for the better, some for the worse – and we have been most fortunate to live through and witness the growth of the field from a much earlier and simpler time. It has been very exciting! The days of SCD being the lifeblood of the hobby are unfortunately gone (they were great while they lasted!), and the Internet and eBay just aren’t the same, but the hobby will live on in a different form. It is hard for the new generation to appreciate the role SCD played in the hobby. I’m not sure the hobby would have grown as big as it did without SCD. Hopefully the Standard Catalog will somehow be revitalized and continued. I’m not sure if anyone will have the opportunity, or the dedication, knowledge, interest, understanding, ability and wisdom to do the great job that you have – you were the secret ingredient that made it work! But I hope there will somehow in time be the opportunity for a worthy steward that is up to the task to continue the project. In the meantime, I hope REA will continue to provide a little excitement and fun and education into the hobby, and provide a window into what collecting was all about in the past as well as the present (many collectors don’t understand it wasn’t always so much about grading and authenticity issues!) I know you’ve been keeping busy with the hobby even in your retirement, and I hope to join you in retiring one of these days! (while at the same time also keeping involved). In the meantime, if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know! (including letting people know about and how to order your cards-that-never-were if desired – these are extremely interesting – I don’t know what is involved in making small quantities and even if you can fill a lot of orders, but these are so neat that to see them is to like them, and I also think these will gain a much greater following in the years to come with exposure).
My best to you always,
Sincerely,
Rob L
Robert Lifson
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