BACK AGAIN BY BOB URBAN
The Times-News Edition - January 8, 2005

Stop the Press

Every Friday evening when I arrived at my desk to put together the last pieces of the Saturday edition of The TIMES NEWS, the latest edition of the Palmerton Press would be there waiting for me.

Through rain or snow Bob Elliston's latest commentary would arrive on time, on line, nestled in there with all the emails soliciting me to buy prescription drugs on line, or Viagra and a hundred and one other products.

Bob Elliston published information you would never find in The TIMES NEWS, or in the New York Daily News for that matter. But that didn't make him any less interesting to his loyal readers.

Every edition I learned what Bob's latest weight was that week, and his glucose count. Because he'd tell me. In the summer I knew how many laps he swam every morning at the Palmerton Community Pool. He told me what his beloved wife, Queen, made for dinner every evening; who he'd meet on his daily walks; and who was getting what done to their Palmerton homes.

Mundane stuff mostly, but not when the person telling it makes it sound interesting.

Thanks to Bob I knew more about what was going on in his home town than I did in my own.

Bob Elliston and I met only once, for a brief couple of minutes. It was at the home of my longtime co-worker Pattie Mihalik, the day her husband Andy died.

My wife and I were leaving her home when the Ellistons arrived to pay their respects to their old friend. We exchanged introductions and Bob recognized my byline and made me feel good by telling me he was a loyal reader of this column.

It was soon after that his online newspaper began showing up in my email every week. I looked forward to it. Thanks to computer technology I got to meet his pet Beagle. And I saw his beloved swing in the back yard where he used to go and sit and have his morning coffee. I learned that he wasn't really a computer whiz, but thanks to the help of his son, George and his two grandsons, the 78-year-old journalist fashioned his own website and shared it with hundreds of readers every week.

BECAUSE OF THE NEW YEAR holiday I didn't have a chance to search for Bob's most recent edition until early this week. While scrolling through my email I found another message from his address.

It shocked and saddened me.

It read:

It is with great sadness that we are forced to report that the Editor-In-Chief of the Palmerton Press, Bob Elliston, passed away this morning in his sleep. We thank you all for your support, thoughts and prayers in this most difficult time. We know that Bob appreciated all of your support and help in the past couple of years in making his dream of The Palmerton Press a reality. We know that he looked forward to hearing from each and every one of you, his loyal readers. Many of you supplied him with ideas, articles and photos, which he used as the start of some news item.

We will all miss his friendship, wit, humor, common sense and hearty laugh.

God Bless You All,

The Elliston Family

I clicked onto his final edition, dated Dec. 31. It began, as always, with a disclaimer:

These pages make absolutely no attempt to be a real newspaper. For that one must read the Times News. I write this for my own enjoyment. I hope others will enjoy it also.

See why I liked this guy?

He then explained where the inspiration for his weekly journal came from.

"Somehow, I believe that my Dad, George Elliston, editor and publisher of the "original" weekly Palmerton Press would be both happy and mighty darn surprised to see my efforts here. I am sure that he would never have suspected that I would have had the vaguest interest in doing this. Well neither did I."

I scrolled through the final edition and found Bob telling his readers about how he and Queen spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, visiting friends, exchanging gifts, and eating lasagna and shrimp "and two cocktails" in front of a roaring fireplace.

There were photographs of the interior and exterior of the Christ Church in Short Hills, New Jersey where he and Queen went to a memorial service for an old friend.

"Don't get old," Bob advised.

There were also photographs of my Palmerton TIMES NEWS co-workers, Patti, Sharon and Joel. Bob was a frequent visitor to our Palmerton office.

In closing Bob said:

Oh, I expect the New Year to begin much as the last few New Year's have done. Queen and I in her bed watching the crazy people milling about Times Square waiting for the ball to drop for the New Year.

With this I shall stop for this week. Have a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Love, Mom and Bob [ Queen and Bobby]

I'd like to think Bob died with a smile on his face. He didn't seem capable of frowning.

Bob wrote about what he knew best - his life, his family, his town and his friends. No doubt his father would have been proud of the way he managed to pump a little sunshine into our lives every week.

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