Rob and I met through net.motss when we saw each other's PacBell addresses on articles. When the company opened its humungous admin center out in San Ramon (35 miles from SF) in 1985, we found ourselves only two floors apart and connived to make "San Remote" a more gay-friendly place by holding monthly Gay Luncheons at local restaurants (alas, despite outreach, the lesbians remained stealthy back then) in nearby restaurants. Rob talked a bemused sysadmin into putting a "pb" distribution on net.motss so we could post announcements of upcoming lunches and maybe reach some pb.lurkers. I guess we had about a dozen people show up every month for lunch, assembling in one of the building's lobbies (to the amazement of our straight co-workers) and causing a sensation at whatever restaurant we inflicted ourselves upon. Halloween 1986 sticks in my memory for some reason!
I went to Bellcore in New Jersey for 3 years in '87 and Rob left
PacBell before I returned, so I don't think I saw him since our last
lunch together in June 1987 when we talked about forming a real G/L
employee group, something that actually happened in 1990 without
either of us. I knew him better, like most of you, through
soc.motss. And it's here I will miss him most.
