So will his sense of professional community. In 1965 Bob founded the now annual Forum on the Geology of Industrial Minerals and was the last to have attended all of the conferences including the 30th in Halifax, Nova Scotia, last May. The spirit of these meetings reflects his style -- great fun, highly educational, and totally without pretense. Both he and his wife Marion were a familiar and fond sight at this and many conferences.

How characteristic that the title of his paper at the First Industrial Minerals Congress in London in 1974 was "Channels of communication in the industrial minerals field". In retrospect it seems that its message would be a cornerstone of his career. He noted then that "In the last 15 years or so, the field of industrial minerals has emerged as a world community."

No individual has done more than Bob Bates to promote this ideal in his teaching, writing, and speeches. In early June we discussed his involvement in a third edition of our joint geology book. His reply was . . . "As for me, I'd better not be included. I'll be 82 next week, Peter -- and am not looking for extensive editorial jobs". However, the real reason came in the next sentence -- "There is some talk at AGI about another edition of the Glossary of Geology, and I may be involved in that." I feel sure he could have been persuaded to give the third edition a go!

Bob was married to Marion Hoftyzer Bates for 58 years. He is survived by his son Steven of Evanston, Illinois, his daughter Helen McDermott and his granddaughter Emily Anna McDermott of Rochester, Minnesota.

Bob will be missed by everybody who has ever met him, and by many more who have read him. Bob once observed, "It's been said that the language is the only natural resource that can be mined indefinitely without depletion. I enjoy mining it." Mining with Bates will always be enjoyable.