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Bowtie Wilkersberry Dead At 76

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ChrisPaul3

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One of the last true visionaries. Passed away in his home today of "natural causes" (supposedly at least). He was making a lot of progress on some pretty important inventions, so obviously the timing of his death raises some major questions, but guess we'll find out more in the coming weeks.

Anyway RIP Bowtie...
 
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Wow. Just saw this:

Bowtie is survived by his wife, Martina Leones Wilkersberry, who has requested privacy during this time and released the following statement: "I would like to thank everyone who has offered condolences on the passing of my beloved husband. Bowtie would have been thrilled at this outpouring of affection. Everything is too raw right now for me to comment publicly on the circumstances of his death, but rest assured there will be a full autopsy and no questions will be left unanswered. We had no children, but Bowtie's passion was most certainly his work, and so I will do everything in my power to ensure that his inventions are completed exactly as he would have wished."

Glad to hear her say she intends to continue his work, but obviously she isn't convinced it was "natural causes" either. I knew this one smelled fishy.
 
What a huge loss to the era, I hope he finished up some of his pending works or else nobody else may be able finish it up to and the genius and progress will be lost forever.
 
Based on the thread starter and title, was hoping this would be a top-notch RJ Announces Death parody, but early returns are disappointing. Thinkingwithmydeac's retains the top spot.
 
Namesake of our infamous Cincinnati Bowties sheep team. He really became a recluse in the past few years. I was always impressed with how successful he was at keeping a low profile in the age of the interwebs, especially given his pursuits. A sad day indeed. RIP Bowtie.
 
I actually remember reading an interview with him about 8 or 9 months ago (maybe his last interview? not sure if he did one later or not), and he was talking glowingly about Martina. She was his assistant before they fell in love, so you wonder if she could continue his work herself or whether they'd have to turn it over to a big inventing firm.
She was 30 years younger than him, so obviously if this turns out to be murder, there will be some femme fatale whispers, but she seemed like a nice lady. I got a feeling this is a lot bigger than a young wife looking to cash in on her elderly husband's net worth. At least, you'd hope the death of an icon wouldn't be for reasons as shallow as that.
 
Tom Hood just had a great obit on NW7US thurs night broadcast. Will replay on tomorrow nights broadcast.
 
Remember back in '77 when he fried that IBM 360 at TUCC when he asked the question.
 
Some of my favorite Bowtie quotes:

"Life is life. Death is death. A tree is a tree. The earth is the earth. The only thing that isn't is the thing I will make next."

"I do not want them to say Bowtie was Edison, or Franklin, or Newton. I only want them to say Bowtie was here too."

"There is no such thing as inventors or inventions. There are only men and things."

"I am glad man has been up to the moon, but I will be more glad when the moon has come down to man."
 
looks like CP3 crushed some adderall tonight. this could be good.
 
Interesting quote from Bowtie here that I hadn't heard before, pretty poignant considering today's events (hat tip to Gordy Dudley for including this in his obit):

"If either place exists, I would rather go to hell than heaven, because if heaven is perfect then there'd be nothing left to invent."

Pretty crazy how much the dude loved inventing. I sort of envy his passion. They say he was in his home workshop when he passed away, and that seems pretty indisputable no matter what caused his death, so at least he went doing what he loved most.
 
When I visited Wake, I sat in on this physics class where the professor showed a five-minute clip of an "inside the lab" video with Wilkersberry. Dude was nuts, like a character that fell out of a Vonnegut novel or something. He was doing some stem cell work at the time and was this lab coat made out of anti-GOP propaganda. He was so excited, talking to the interviewer about what he thought might come of his inventions, that he had a boner, which was propping up a Barbara Bush political cartoon on his coat. Wild stuff.
 
Hopefully his time machine that would be specifically used to improve inventions in the past will come out soon. I knew he wanted to tear into the Wright brothers but just didn't have enough sand in the hourglass. RIP.
 
Been reading obits all night. Lots of great stuff, but thought the Times of London had one of the better Bowtie anecdotes, just cause it sort of gives you a sense of what it was like to know the guy:

In June of 1987, perhaps exhausted from having spent the last 34 consecutive years inventing without a single day off, Bowtie took the first (and last) vacation of his life. He called his closest friend, and financier, Barney Burnside and told him to pack a suitcase and meet him in his driveway. When Barney arrived at the house, he found Bowtie waiting out front and wearing nothing but a pair of black bathing trunks.

“Are we going swimming, Bowtie?,” asked Barney.

“Swimming is for fish, Barney. Do I look to you like someone who likes to act as a fish does?,” Bowtie replied inquisitively.

“No, Bowtie, but you’re wear—“

Knowing where Barney’s question was headed, Bowtie interrupted, “If I go swimming because I have on bathing trunks, then my outfit has chosen my activity. If I wear bathing trunks because I am going swimming, then my activity has chosen my outfit. And thus, Barney, we are going skiing, because a man must always choose for himself, or else he is no better than a fish.”
 
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