The death this afternoon of Barry Halper, 65

[Archive]

Posted By: Danny Cariseo

As a young collector, I sent Barry a "fan letter of sorts" and in return, was a phone call. We chatted for several minutes and I always pictured in his basement a bunch of old ball players sitting around that he had to get to so I didn't want to take up much of his time.

I tried to emmulate his collection as best as I could on a budget (I was working at McDonald's at the time) as I memorized the famous Cabin Fever tape, concentrating on the unique story of a young collector in Halper approaching the aging Cy Young with Young's pipe falling from his mouth and Halper asking for it and getting the legend to sign it. I'm proud to say that I own that pipe and is the centerpiece of my collection.

After the famous auction, we kept in touch after an interview I did with him. He shaped me as a collector and was truly one of the kindest men that this business (in the old days, would have said "hobby") has ever seen and you could say was ahead of his time in a collecting manner. I'm simply sad that I never tried to catch up to him over the last couple years.

I am better off in life having known Barry as little as I did.
My heart and prayers go out to the Halper family.

Regards,

DC