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Remembering Bear Graves: Internet Pipe Community Pioneer
Ron "Bear" Graves, my friend of 25 years, internet pipe community pioneer, and an early voice of Smokingpipes, passed away on Saturday, September 28, 2024, following a brave, protracted battle with liver cancer.
I first met Bear, as he was universally known, through Alt.Smokers.Pipes, a usenet newsgroup, in the late 1990s. ASP in the 1990s and very early 2000s was very much the primordial ooze out of which the modern internet pipe community evolved. ASP specifically — and usenet more generally — had largely fallen into disuse by the mid-2000s, but from the late 1990s to about 2003, its importance as an early platform for the pipe community cannot be overstated.
Bear was an enthusiastic — so very enthusiastic — participant on ASP in those days, passionately promoting products and causes relating to pipes and pipe tobacco. He was an early, vocal supporter of Greg Pease's then nascent tobacco brand, G. L. Pease, buying a hundred tins of Haddo's Delight, smoking many of them and giving away others in his rabid excitement for the tobacco, thereby helping to propel what was almost certainly the very first internet-meme-driven pipe tobacco phenomenon, dubbing Greg 'The Dark Lord' for his blending expertise. He also ran a pipe charity of sorts, collecting donations and giving away hundreds of care packages with pipes, pipe tobacco, cleaners and other pipe supplies under the banner Pay-it-Forward.
And it was that enthusiasm for everything, for whatever he fell into, that so defined Bear. When Jon Tillman — an early employee of Smokingpipes.com and the creator and primary programmer of Tobaccoreviews.com — and I drove from Nashville to Las Vegas with my pickup truck filled with meerschaum for the 2002 RTDA (which later was renamed IPCPR, then PCA) show, Bear — on a lark — decided to drive up to meet us and help us display our wares at the show. At the time, Bear had no professional connection to the industry; he was selling real estate in Tucson. We hadn't a clue what we were doing and the business itself was a disaster, but Bear, Jon, and I had a great time.
Ultimately, in 2005, Bear and his wife Terri Graves moved across the country so that Bear could take over from me as the primary writer for Smokingpipes. His writing for Smokingpipes was just as it had been on Alt.Smokers.Pipes: over the top, flamboyant, and hysterically funny. His goal was always to entertain first, and to educate along the way. From 2005 to 2010, Bear's was the primary voice in Smokingpipes pipe descriptions and newsletter content. In the early days, Tony Saintiague and I would help with copy and write the occasional newsletter. Later on, Eric Squires supplemented Bear's efforts as the number of pipes each week, and writing load, increased. In those days, before the Daily Reader blog, this was almost all of our written communication. In 2013, he returned to Smokingpipes. By then, there was a small team writing pipe descriptions, blog posts and newsletter content, but the pipe community enthusiastically welcomed Bear's distinctive voice back to Smokingpipes.
In all of this, it's easy to lose sight of how important the written word was to Smokingpipes and the pipe community in those days. In an internet world throttled to 56.6k bps, writing was what we had. And we were writers then: we told stories, described objects, and built narratives almost exclusively in text. Smokingpipes' weekly (and then bi-weekly) newsletter, reluctant to leave its written roots, did not transition from plain text to HTML until 2010. As writers and early internet adopters, Bear and I would jokingly lament the rise of the graphical world wide web as the death knell of the internet we loved.
Bear ultimately left Smokingpipes in 2014 to move to Texas (and later Georgia) with his wife Terri for her career. He continued to be involved in the pipe hobby, staying in touch with his friends and colleagues.
Bear is survived by his wife, Terri Graves, and an internet pipe community upon which he left an indelible mark.
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Comments
Bear was a good friend. I can't express my sadness. He and I became very close after his diagnosis, and we spend many a night writing to each other, lifting each others spirits not to mention the many care packages he and I would share with each other. The world is a colder place without him, but is a brighter and warmer place because of him. I will sorely miss our time together pal.
I had the pleasure of working with Bear @ SPC. And we remained friends after he moved. He was a kind,gentle Bear, that will truely be missed by many! RIP my friend!
Bear was an incredible man with a beautiful soul. I remember visiting with him during my trips to Little River. He always loved to see and hold the Ardor Giants that I pull out of the case. Bear’s approval was extremely instrumental in building the demand for the brand. His love and passion for the hobby will be missed by all that were lucky enough to have crossed his path. He was a true brother and friend.
Bear's voice was the one I most associated with SPC and with Peterson for many years, even though he only wrote from 2005-2010. Every few months in doing archival research on Peterson pipes, I'll run across a description written by Bear. This wasn't "copy" written for pay. This was JOY written from the heart. Bear KNEW Petes and he knew what to expect from one he was writing about. His enthusiasm was so infectious and whenever I write about pipes I always hope I'll have Bear there on one shoulder and Chuck on the other to inspire and inform and moderate whatever I write. I never knew until this day who is was nor why he left nor what happened in his life. Just through those descriptions he wrote--and I guess I've read a few dozen of them--he's made me that much better a human being and pipe smoker. Rest in Peace & smoak with you in the Resurrection!
I first became aware of Bear's writing back in 2008 when I purchased a Bjarne Giant pipe. It is huge and still one of my favorite pipes. To this day every time I pull it out to smoke I think of Bear's opening line in the description and smile - "Attack of the Giant Danish Egg!".Thanks Bear - you are remembered!
The man was a great unifier of people, laying part of the groundwork that touched much of the online culture around smoking accessories. He inspired many of us with his passion and dedication. He will be greatly missed, but his legacy will continue to influence the community for years to come. Thank you for this heartfelt tribute.
Bear was certainly one of a kind, he didn't hold to societal norms and reveled in his originality and authenticity. Besides his love of pipes and the pipe community, Bear loved life and always had a smile to share. He will be missed by all who were lucky enough to know him.
Not only did I have the distinct pleasure of working with Bear, but also becoming his friend, and also living on his couch for some time whilst working at SPC. The time we spent together talking history, tobacco, and Ramen; the kindness and mirth, all of it will stay with me as long as I live. I can honestly say, I'm a better man today because of Bear.