Bob Fowler, R.I.P.

I was really sorry to read today in the N&O that Bob Fowler, the last family proprietor of Fowler's, died earlier this month:  

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/10/3020680/robert-l-fowler-jr.html

I liked Bob, and liked talking to him when I went in Fowler's.  He told me once there was never any telling what he might be doing in the store at any particular time — helping customers, writing up an ad, or "swabbing out the john."  

There was a long time in Durham where there was not much in the way of resources for food geeks.  The big exception was Fowler's.  Bob was the one who successfully took a small family grocery store through the transition to a gourmet resource, with (at one time) the best wine selection between DC and Atlanta, and maybe beyond.  

Bob, I still miss your store, and we'll miss you.