Barrie Sullivan Sad News

[Rich Klein]

I hope Doug Allen does not get upset I cut and pasted his tribute to Barrie, but Mr. Sullivan has been an influential hobbyists and dealer for many years.

Mourning the Passing of Hobby Friend and Pioneer Barrie Sullivan II

Please say a prayer for Sandy Sullivan and her family who today lost husband and father Barrie Sullivan to his long fight against an inoperable brain tumor.

Barrie Sullivan was a hobby pioneer and collector for the better part of 60 years. Over a decade ago he parted ways with many of his high-end autographs, programs and memorabilia pieces. His collection was world class just like he was. I got a call last summer from his wife Sandy who simply said "our Barrie is not doing well" so Ron Oser and I flew out to Colorado to spend some time with him. We had become friends over the past 10 years or so and he would hang out with our staff at the National Convention each year. Even though his collecting days were primarily behind him he still loved to upgrade his 1952 Topps set and work on other favorite sets. After the visit, with the approval of his wife, I put calls into other hobby icons like Irv Lerner, Pat Quinn, Bruce Paynter and Marshall Fogel to let them know what was going on. As a matter of fact it was Marshall who referred to Barrie a true hobby pioneer.

In early December, months past the life expectancy given to him by the doctors, Barrie called me on the phone. Even though his speech was impacted he sounded really good and asked me to come out to help straighten some affairs so his family would not have to deal with it. What a fighter. So I flew to Denver and spent a couple days reminiscing with him and Sandy. The second day was literally spent sitting on the floor of his foyer going through baseball cards and autographs. Almost everything had a story and unfortunately his medical condition made it so hard to express the words he had formulated in his mind. In the current auction we are offering among other things his T206 set, 1952 Topps set and a bunch of autographed items. As a matter of fact lot #589 in the current auction is the original autograph book he assembled in 1950, sold in the early '70s and then re-acquired in 1989 when it again became available.

The bottom line is I considered Barrie a true friend and he will be greatly missed. Please keep Sandy and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this very difficult time.

Rest in Peace, Barrie.

Doug Allen
President & CEO

[geor952]

Rich,
I never knew Barrie, but appreciate your post and will certainly pray for Sandy and his family! Well written Doug.

[ethicsprof]

My condolences to family and friends.
with deepest sympathy,
Barry

[Jay Wolt]

Very sad to hear.

[chris6net]

A real classy man. RIP!

[brian1961]

My deepest sympathy to Sandy and the family.

Barrie Sullivan was indeed a very nice man and truly one of the good guys. His auctions always had some very high quality material. I won a few press pins from him in about 1980, purchased a few from him, and most of all, he put me in contact with Jim Johnston, who helped me acquire the last press pin I wanted--a mint condition 1935 Chicago Cubs. Whenever I see it, I always think of Barrie and his kindness in helping me find something that seemed impossible.

When he could, he would help a fellow collector, even a miniscule hobbyist such as I was. The tears come down. Barrie, God bless you and your family. You shall be missed. ---Brian Powell

[oaks1912]

Barrie was indeed a class act and one of the leading collectors of the 80's. It had been a few decades since I had seen him, when Ted Zanidakis and myself bumped into him at the Baltimore National a few years back. It was nice to get caught up with him at that time and I'm sorry to hear of his passing. My condolences to his family and closest friends...

[MooseDog]

Had a few dealings with Barrie...good man, will be missed.

[the 'stache]

It sounds like Barrie was quite a passionate collector in his day. And in a way, I envy him. I can only imagine what it was like to collect back then.

My condolences to the family and friends Barrie leaves behind.