There are not many images on this page because Bob, like most fathers, will have a limited photo legacy to leave for his kids. Why? Because fathers seem to be the only family members who can consistently take a picture that includes both eyes and both ears and both the top and bottom of heads.
Professionally, Bob operates Nordun Computers, a retail computer store in Chesterville, does computer consulting through his company The Nunnery Works Ltd and generally acts as an educator, attempting to make complex computer concepts understandable to normal people.
Bob has very much enjoyed small town life. Those of you who have known him a while might remember that he probably would have been a farmer, born on a wheat farm in far northern Alberta if WW II had not intervened and ruined his father's chances to physically handle the demands of farming. So, rural life was in his genes and he has found his home in Chesterville. In an earlier life, he found another Irish town in southwestern Ontario new and strange. Now, small town life is the norm.
Bob is still a hockey player although he is beginning to find it harder to catch the 20 year olds. He has returned to tennis and especially to golf. During the summer months you will often find him out at his local course beginning play at 5:30am. He also developed a strong attraction to small boat sailing and enjoys sailing on his Adirondack lake surrounded by mountains.
Since about 1973, Bob has been a motorcyclist and enjoys riding his bike (still an '82 Suzuki 750 on back rural roads, especially during haying.
In another life and another place, Bob had passion for the Bruce Trail (in southern Ontario) from Niagara to Tobermory. Now, the torch has been passed and others have filled his Bruce Trail hiking boots and some of his passions have been transfered to hiking the northern Adirondacks in New York state.
At one time, Bob had great success as a monkey hunter. (Well, one catch for one try is pretty good.) Now he devotes his skills to live trapping raccoons at the cottage for relocation to a distant place. Unfortunately, he has also caught a few skunks with the raccoon bait and this keeps life interesting.
Kathleen calls Bob a snob. Yes, she really does say that! He listens to FM radio and only to NPR or CBC-1. He watches little TV and mostly to PBS or TVO or CNN. He subscribes to The Atlantic Monthly and Archaeology magazines and is an avid reader of fiction and biographies.
Recent recordings that are getting worn out from over use include John Prine's "The Missing Years", Lorrie Line's "Walking With You" and the Benedictine Monks' "Chant" recording of Gregorian chants. Still holding their original appeal are Leonard Cohen's tapes of earlier songs and, as always, selected classical works.
On the volunteer side, Bob has been active as a board member for the Dundas County Hospice. This is an organization of caring volunteers who provide support for families and individuals in situations involving terminal illnesses.
Favourite authors include
1) the very prolific WEB Griffin, whose 3 series of books on the US Army, US Marine Corps and big city policemen contain witty dialog and endless examples of the difference between managing people and leading people.
2) Nelson DeMille, who is getting better with every new book released. Recent highlights include "Gold Coast", "Spencerville" which shows that sometimes you can go home again, "Word of Honor" which is an excellent exploration of the broad gray area between right and wrong and "Plum Island" which is just a good read.
3) Clive Cussler, whose books continue to entertain and amuse even though he must be the world's worst writer of dialog.
4) Victor O'Reilly, whose 3 adventure novels, "Games of the Hangman", "Rules of the Game" and "The Devil's Footprint" are entertaining and inventive. Did it ever happen to you that an author describes a significant situation from your past life and even gets some of the names right? "The Devil's Footprint" was one of those experiences for Bob.
5) Steve Thayer who wrote an excellent and slightly dark story with "The Weatherman". His next novel is eagerly anticipated.
6) Michael Connelly who has written a series of crime/mystery novels set in Los Angeles. His books create characters and situations that are more than one dimensional - there is real substance to the characters. Start with his first novel "The Black Echo" and I am sure you will get hooked.
7) James Webb who was Reagan's Secretary of the Navy for a while, a Vietnam vet and a great writer. His recent book, "The Emperor's General" shows Douglas MacArthur as having a bit of clay in his feet. Highly recommended.
7) Lawrence Block is a very prolific writer who writes at least three continuing series. My favourite is the Matthew Scudder series of detective novels. Scudder novels do not contain much in the way of action - he detects and meets people and has interesting exchanges with them on the way to solving the crime. The dialog is excellent, the characters are rich and we are always left with the question of whether "the law" is a necessary part of justice.
8) Jeffery Deaver is a writer of crime/detection novels. His recent novels include The Empty Chair, The Devil's Teardrop, The Coffin Dancer, The Bone Collector, The Maiden's Grave. Very highly recommended.
