Pennsylvania Game News - April 2019 - 34

Robert S. Bell
Robert S. Bell passed away on Jan. 31, 2019 in San
Francisco, Calif., where he'd lived for many years.
Born in Danville, Pa. on Dec. 2, 1925, Bob served
nearly 23 years as Game News editor up until his
retirement in 1990. He will be deeply missed.

most of us were heading to the beach
or a picnic, Bob was sliding into his
old cowboy hat and heading afield for
woodchucks. He loved shooting at long
distances and Pennsylvania has never
been short of dirt-pigs. It was pursuit he
picked up chuck hunting with Dad, and
he followed it until he couldn't.
Bob sharpened his writing penning
pieces for Gun Digest, Handloader's
Digest, Precision Shooting, Outdoor
Life, Field & Stream and others, and he
had the experience, temperament and
personality Game News needed at a time
when special interests and, later, splintering sportsmen's organizations made
shepherding a hunting-and-wildlife
magazine anything but routine.
Bob came to a magazine already firing
on all cylinders. Staples like Gone for
the Day and Field Notes already were
in place, not to mention a talented stable
of artists to illustrate articles and paint
covers.
All Bob would have needed to do was
steer the magazine.
Instead, he stepped on the gas.
Layouts improved. Content expanded.
Editorials had more bite.
Bob kept the magazine at the forefront of America's great environmental
awakening and latest conservation crises.
His wit and command of words made
an already-great magazine better.
He loved the editorial soapbox and
was a masterful features writer, and his
editorial direction attracted even more
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talent to Game News.
It's hard to imagine having Jim Bashline, Ned Smith, Nick Rosato, Archibald
Rutledge, Tom Fegely, Chuck Ripper,
Bob Sopchick, Chuck Fergus, George
Block III and Nick Sisley developing
content for Game News. But Bob did.
Together, they pushed the magazine's
circulation to new heights.
Bob retired from the Game Commission and Game News in 1990, just before
America's fascination with digital technology would begin to hurt hard-copy
magazines. He certainly enjoyed some
of the magazine's finest years.
The last time I talked with Bob was in
the development of stories for the 1,000th
issue of Game News, back in 2015.
I needed to know more about Ned
Smith's Game News days - stuff only
Bob would know. And he jumped at the
opportunity to help.
It was clear how much he still loved
the magazine, and he was glad that staff
looked back in time as much as it did
ahead.
In recent years, Bob contributed a
final few features to the magazine, continuing to pound out transcripts on his old
typewriter, hand-scratching his final edits
in pen. They focused on Ned, chucks and
unusual shots that took game, but they
were Bob, through and through.
For readers, it was a welcome opportunity to reminisce. And, those pieces
now stand as Bob's last testament to the
magic he created for so long at Game
News.
Bob was integral in defining Game
News' brand, in building its readership,
and passionately supporting conservation.
He will be missed, but never forgotten.
God bless Bob.
You truly were one-of-a-kind.
Pennsylvania Game News - April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - April 2019
