Comments on: Columnist, community figure dies

By: Jonathan Baker

Jonathan Baker — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:28:21 +0000

Today is March 10th, 2009, and I am stunned and deeply saddened to only now read of Bob Nanninga’s death.

I live in New York City, and I subscribe to The Coast News as a way of keeping in touch with the community I was raised in three decades ago. And, here is the paper before me…

The Coast News would arrive in my mailbox and I always opened it first to Bob’s column. His profound insights were always illuminating. I read the N.Y.Times every morning, and I found Bob’s columns to be fully on a par with those of Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd, and other celebrated columnists in the Times.

I never met Bob, but I feel I have lost a great friend because that is how I came to regard him over the many years, and I now regret that I did not contact him directly to thank him for what his observations had added to my life. Bob was a deep and thoughtful intellect who looked many layers beneath the surface of the obvious. Comforting cliches were swept away in his penetrating search for truth and basic decency.

Having just read his obituary in the Coast News, I am heartened to find out that he led such a richly varied and exciting life. He was a man of fierce intellect, and great passion. He led an astonishingly full life. For that I am grateful. It is clear that he loved greatly, and was loved greatly in return.

There is a common, and somewhat cynical saying, that “no one is irreplaceable.” But, Bob’s passing proves the saying to be false. Bob is not replaceable – he was truly one-of-a-kind.

I know that I should be giving thanks for the life of Bob Nanninga. But in this moment, all I can do is cry for the loss of an amazing man whom I never had the chance to meet in person.

We have witnessed the passing of a giant soul.

By: KungFuSurferJudd

KungFuSurferJudd — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:36:48 +0000

Bob: I know you’re reading all these comments in cyber heaven. Please know you are greatly missed. It’s going to take a few hundred of us to do a fraction of work you did to give a voice to preserving open spaces and the environment in Encinitas.

I always liked having you as a bedrock of this community to fight the unscrupulous real estate developers and anti-environmental city council wonks.

You can’t be replaced but hopefully your legacy will inspire dozens to work towards environmental sustainability in Encinitas.

It’s cliche to say “Rest in Peace.” Somehow even in another spiritual plane, you are probably working on inter-galactic sustainability.

We miss you Bob!

By: Stephanie Bromley

Stephanie Bromley — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:12:13 +0000

I am stunned and saddened – to say the least – over the passing of Bob Nanninga. As his one-time former editor of The Coast News, we clashed on many issues. But as stubborn as we both were, Bob’s passion for the environment and for the city he lived in was apparent to all who knew him or read his columns, weather you agreed with him or not. Although Bob is gone, I have a feeling he won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Stephanie Martin Bromley
Orange County, CA

By: Judy Shapiro

Judy Shapiro — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:40:17 +0000

Truly sad news hearing about Bob’s early passing. I will certainly miss his weekly column. You will be missed…Rest in peace Bob!

By: Nancy DeGhionno

Nancy DeGhionno — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:18:50 +0000

Bob had such a passionate devotion to sustainability and California natives. You could always count on him to show up at city hall, etc. and make his case, even if everyone else was concentrating on everything else. He had a strength and determination about him that almost guaranteed some form of concession from those misaligned from his views. When I left the Parks and Recreation Commission, partially in honor of my Shade Crusade, he and fellow commissioners gave me a t-shirt that reads Plant a Tree, of course. Just can’t believe we have lost The Bob. I’ve decided to name my vermicompost in his honor: Worm Street Cafe. I think he’d like that.

By: John Smith

John Smith — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:39:41 +0000

I knew Bob as a fellow commissioner and i thought i loved the woods.Bob protected all that is good on this planet. I did not realize the impact Bob had on me until i read his last article from the ICU. Bob was an original and I will miss him. I am grateful that i had the opportunity to meet him and i will not forget the last time i waved to him at his cafe. I also enjoyed the fact him mom recalled Bob referring to her as mom unit. Classic Bob…

By: Dave Wood

Dave Wood — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:56:48 +0000

What a shocking and tragic loss. Bob was intellectually brilliant, hysterically funny, and outrageously passionate about everything he did. Agree with him or not, but he will certainly be missed.

By: Barbara W

Barbara W — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:10:45 +0000

I am shocked and saddened that Bob has gone. He gave so much and truly cared about the environment. I loved to read his column because he had the intelligence and courage to speak out about issues, saying unpopular things that needed to be said. I’m sure he inspired many people and his work will live on.

By: Planetary Pnemonia

Planetary Pnemonia — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:36:18 +0000

You couldn’t have said it better Bob and I’m sorry you suffered so you could tell us. I hope the Coast News will publish your full article online; complete with your poem from the ICU.

Ann in Leucadia

By: Alex N

Alex N — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:04:49 +0000

Bob will truly be missed. He was such an honest and passionate voice on how important the environment is to all of us. Its so tragic how the good die young while the bad people are able to live out long lives in power and wreak so much environmental and social destruction. Rest in peace Bob. You have inspired many others to follow in your footsteps and we will keep up the fight for social and environmental justice.