I'm sad to report that the founder of SeaWatch Books, Robert (Bob) Friedman recently passed away. I didn't know Bob for long, but I enjoyed our conversations leading up to and following my purchase of SeaWatch Books from him. In the months that followed, he was always available to me with advice and guidance and he had a certain way about him that always made me chuckle after our phone calls.
I reached out to his wife, Cathy, for some comments about Bob:
Bob was born in 1941 in New York City, where he spent his childhood. He often spoke about going to the New York Naval Yard to see the big ships from WWII and how much he enjoyed those outings.
After he graduated from Harper College (now Binghamton University) in upper New York with a BA degree in History, he worked in retail for a short time. From there, he worked for Dun and Bradstreet, eventually becoming a regional manager and being transferred to Chicago. During that time, he married and had his son, Ron. After a number of years with Dun and Bradstreet, Bob went to work for RR Donnelly and Sons where he became corporate head of sales.
He and Cathy met in 1980 and married in 1981. Cathy brought her two sons, Ricky and David, to the union; Ron too lived with them creating a blended family of 5 where they lived in St. Charles, IL. Bob survived multiple cardiac surgeries, finally having to medically retire.
In 1996 they moved to Florence, OR and started a book publishing business called SeaWatchBooks, publishing about 30 titles over the years. He was in contact with many great model builders and attended NRG conventions whenever he could. Says Cath: "We never traveled anywhere that there wasn’t a ship/naval museum in our trip!"
After I purchased SeaWatch, one of his main desires of me was to get Volume III of Grant Walker's Roger's Collection published. Grant and I worked pretty hard over the following two years, and on the eve of us shipping was when I learned of Bob's passing. I only wish he could have seen the book.
RIP Bob Friedman.