Another great article about Bob ... RIP
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Late TH columnist leaves behind legacy of laughter
BY BEN JACOBSON
ben.jacobson@thmedia.com Dec 8, 2016
Seven years ago, Robert Byrne issued a bold invitation to “Behold (his) Shorts.”
A decade’s worth of humorous musings in the Telegraph Herald were compiled into a bound collection and unleashed on the public. Though the title referred to the length of the 93 columns and essays contained therein, the self-deprecating wordsmith gamely posed in boxers for the book’s cover.
And though Byrne’s passing Tuesday at the age of 86 undoubtedly leaves a void, family and friends said his levity and love will live on.
“Everybody just loved him,” said his wife, Cindy Nelms- Byrne. “He was always friendly and honest and nice and kind, but also very funny. He’d come up with some remark that would leave everybody laughing hysterically.”
Byrne was born in Dubuque in 1930, one of four boys produced through the pairing of Thomas and Clara Byrne. He went on to earn a degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado.
For many years, Byrne served as an editor for Western Construction, a trade magazine in San Francisco. But eventually he turned his passion for writing into a full-time career.
Byrne’s way with words helped him connect with Cindy, who, in 1986 wrote a fan letter after reading one of his humorous quotations. About one month later, Cindy received a phone call.
“We started talking and we started writing every day and we started talking every day on the phone, when long-distance (calls) were expensive,” she said. “About a month after that, he came out to see me, pretending he was doing research. He was doing research — research on me.”
The couple married in 1991 and traveled the world, logging stops in Alaska, New Zealand and even living for a time in Spain.
Byrne returned to Dubuque in 1995 and was drawn into the Telegraph Herald fold in 2000 after novelist Thomas Gifford’s declining health left him unable to continue as a columnist. Byrne, a mutual friend of Gifford and TH Executive Editor Brian Cooper, was persuaded to step in.
“He had plenty of other projects, and it took some coaxing, but he agreed,” Cooper said. “And so TH readers for years were the beneficiaries of his creativity, wit and humor. I loved working with Bob.”
Byrne also penned multiple novels and stories, one of which — “Memories of a Non-Jewish Childhood” — was made into a musical by David Resnick.
“I was looking for some original Dubuque material and everybody kept saying, ‘You’ve got to read Robert Byrne,’” Resnick said. “I read (Memories of a Non-Jewish Childhood) and there were such wonderful characters.”
In Byrne, Resnick found a friend, an editor and inspiration.
“He’s got this keen wit and a kind heart,” Resnick said. “That’s such a great combination.”
Byrne initially was skeptical of his book’s ability to be adapted, Resnick said. But, after “quite an adventure,” the show debuted 12 years ago at the Grand Opera House. A streamlined revival of the musical, re-dubbed “Fish on Friday,” will debut at Bell Tower Theater in August. But Resnick promised the “fun and polite irreverence” of the original show and its “lovable rascal” scribe remain intact.
Writing wasn’t Byrne’s only passion. He was a renowned expert on pool and billiards, a talent he shared through writings and instructional videos. In 2001, Byrne was inducted into the Billiard Hall of Fame.
Byrne leaves behind a son, Russell, two grandchildren, several nieces and nephews and two of his three brothers. That his siblings — ages 91 and 95 — would outlive Byrne was something of a sore spot for the jokester, to whom no subject was off-limits for a wisecrack.
“He’s pretty mad that he died before them,” Cindy said.
