Remembering Bob Keller, my most interesting boss!

Bob was my direct employer. He had a big heart, generous, the smartest man in the room, and punctuated his great tales with his booming laugh. He turned the C&TS around during his management tenure. Bob's great sense of humor was always close at hand. One afternoon over beer at the High Country (Bob's one and favorite waterhole) he told me that Ronald Reagan would be the next president, I replied, "Nobody would elect him as dog catcher!" Boy was I wrong! Bob always brightened any room with his wit and humor and devilish grin. We loved working for him, even when he enfuriated us!

A story. One afternoon in the 1970s we were all sitting eating lunch at the Osier section house. I had seen a fine-looking young woman on the train. She had long, perfect red hair.
Coker-"Bob, did you see the redhead?
Bob- "Yes, indeed."
Coker- (dreamily)"I never dated a redhead"
Bob-looking up from his beans with a sly smile-" What difference does it make, John? They ALL taste the same!" Later in my misspent youth I auditioned a couple of "burning bushes"found out he was right!

Bob kept about 400 hotel keys on a big brass loop. He told us wide-eyed raildweebs that each key represented a conquest! MY HERO!

He tried to market a sound system, employing the first CD I ever saw. It was called "OnBoard" and was steamrolled by PFM's sound system, which came out about the same time. He tried to put together other projects but could never get them off the ground. Bob always kept a fifth of Beefeaters gin under the desk. The booze finally got the best of him, as booze, like the Devil, will demand its due.

I will miss this fine, brilliant and hilarious raconteur. God, those were fun times! Lord, please consider his restless soul.

Quote for the day:
Psychiatrist: Has Elwood P. Dowd been here?
Bartender: "Well sir, there are two schools of thought about that"
("Harvey", by James Thurber)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2007 10:57AM by El Coke.