It’s easy to take somebody’s presence for granted. Until they’re gone. Then you realize there is an indefinable gap, a sense that things are not as they had been, a sense of dwindling.
Long time Desert Stonewall Democratic stalwart Bob Silverman passed away last week. Bob was one of that small original cadre of us who were present at the creation and in the earliest days of Stonewall here in the Desert.
I cannot remember Desert Stonewall without Bob, because there never was a time when Bob was not an integral, crucial member of Desert Stonewall Democrats.
Some activists tend to be high-maintenance; such people are often quick to take offense, excruciatingly politically correct, ready to duke it out with friends and allies, and inclined to push for the perfect at the expense of the good. Bob was not this kind of activist.
But if Bob was not a prima donna, Bob was a rock solid, committed Democrat who had the quiet courage of conviction and rocklike constancy that are at the core of all that is good and true and praiseworthy within the Democratic Party. He was also pragmatic, urbane, and considerate of others.
The institutional life of Desert Stonewall Democrats will continue, but for a good long while at least, it will to some degree be impoverished in the wake of Bob Silverman’s going from us. I shall miss him; may he rest in peace.
