Roughly 100 people — from the politicians he challenged to the neighborhood activists he championed to even the Red Hook food vendors he celebrated — mourned blogger Bob Guskind last Saturday in Park Slope.
The event ran for more than four hours, and was filled with speeches, a video and the presentation of a proclamation that passed the state Assembly last week.
“Quite a few people who spoke … had never met Bob in person,” said Louise Crawford, whose Web site, Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, praised Guskind’s “Gowanus Lounge” blog when he was alive. “He was [obviously] a cheerleader and a mentor. It’s amazing how one man managed to connect so many people, had an impact on so many neighborhoods and civic activists, and produced such a huge output of skilled urban reporting.”
Speakers included Jake Dobkin of Gothamist.com, Lockhart Steele of Curbed.com, and Norman Oder of the seminal Atlantic Yards Report.
Oder, referring perhaps to both Guskind’s well-documented work ethic, as well as his struggles with drugs, said that Guskind, “worked harder than most people [and] lived a lot of hours, but he still deserved to be here another 20 years. And whatever the technology would be — you’ll probably be able to touch your tooth instead of typing — Bob would have been in the middle of it.”
After the tributes were done, another fitting ode to Guskind was provided by Rafael Soler, who donated trays of the famed papusas that he serves each summer in Red Hook Park. He has praised Guskind for not abandoning the vendors when the Parks Department made life difficult for them last year.
