Dubuque - USA
The cue sports have lost one of their elder statesmen. Bob Byrne, player, teacher and author of books about billiards and pool, died yesterday at the age of 86.
Bob Byrne (22/5/1930 - 6/12/2016) was a highly respected figure in the semi-separate worlds of billiards and pool. His iconic publication "Byrne's Standard Book of Pool and Billiards" has been an inspiration to several generations of cue players.
In 1994 on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, he received the Industry Service Award from the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America, an honor previously bestowed on Willie Mosconi, Paul Newman, and Jackie Gleason. In 2001, Byrne was inducted into the Billiards Hall Of Fame, together with the great Raymond Ceulemans.
Robert, or more commonly, Bob Byrne was an above average 3-cushion player (0.800 in his better years), and an exceptional writer, with an ever-present but delicate sense of humor. Reading Byrne was never just informative, it was a joy.
He once described how he felt when watching the young Torbjörn Blomdahl play: "This fellow's problem-solving abilities seem endless, does he have an answer to everything? He's good when the positions are normal, but he is awesome when they are not! I find myself secretly hoping he has horrible starting positions or runs into other trouble, just to see how he finds a way out of it."
In the early nineties, Bob and his wife Cindy were guests at the Crystal Kelly tournament in Monaco, where they struck up a friendship with Marco Zanetti. The Italian top player has fond memories, and comments: "We have lost a great gentleman."
Bob Byrne will be remembered for his work, his wit, and his kindness.