[FedCom] BOB SHERMAN, longtime monitor, passed away this week

[Robert Wyman]

Longtime local monitor Mr. Bob Sherman, well known to many on these lists,
passed away on Tuesday. His obituary from the Miami Herald is copied below.
Bob was one of the pioneers of the scanning world, and he monitored almost
every major story in the South Florida area for the last 30 years. Bob also
served as the local frequency coordinator during several national political
conventions, and he was the security and communications coordinator for The
Bee Gees during a nationwide tour in the 1980's.

Bob was at the forefront of the 800 MHz trunking technology and the mapping
of new fleets and talkgroups when most of us didn't know what those terms
even meant. Bob's interest in local news...and news media...often kept him
working and monitoring during the evening and late night hours. He knew the
overnight hours, especially on weekends, produced the most local law
enforcement activity and had the least amount of "live" press coverage. Bob
filled the gap, often reporting and passing story leads to local assignment
editors. The next morning, his stories and leads would be in the news...and
the community was better informed due to his efforts.

Thanks Bob. You will be missed.


Posted by Robert Wyman

Miami Herald story copied below, with a direct link to the story at:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4151780.htm

Posted on Thu, Sep. 26, 2002

Bob Sherman, 63, photographer and monitor of radio scanners
BY ADRIANA CORDOVI
acordovi@herald.com

SHERMAN

Bob Sherman was a news hound. His passion for photojournalism and desire to
always stay in the lead of the day's news led him to his second career:
monitoring radio scanners for several news media outlets including The
Herald.

Sherman died of kidney and lung cancer Tuesday at Aventura Medical Center.
He was 63.

As a photographer for Time-Life Inc. and later as a freelancer for other
media including The Associated Press in Miami, the native New Yorker was
known for his fascination in capturing the images of politicos, especially
U.S. presidents, and the famous.

He was often sent out to airports to snap shots of celebrities coming in on
flights. His son, Roby, says his father shot tour photos of The Bee Gees and
photographed their 1980-81 album, Living Eyes. ''Yeah, he'd been around the
block a few times,'' he said.

Phil Sandlin, a former photo chief for the AP, had known Sherman since the
1960s. He remembers renting a fishing boat with him and sitting outside
then-President Richard Nixon's Key Biscayne home.

Also on the boat: their photo gear and police scanners for monitoring.

Sandlin says the Secret Service and U.S. Coast Guard would try to get them
to leave, but ''Bob was the type of photographer that would not be
intimidated. He was a very good news man,'' Sandlin said. ``He always knew
what was going on.''

His interest in radio scanners only grew with time. He and his wife of 35
years, Carolyn, started a news service for the media monitoring police and
fire scanners to keep their clients informed of breaking news.

Another service grew out of the news business -- Gold Coast Fire Net, which
monitored fire scanners from other parts of the country. Most of his clients
are hobbyists or former firefighters now living in South Florida wanting to
keep up with the action back at home.

His North Miami Beach home has more than 25 scanners.

''You couldn't trip without falling over one,'' Roby Sherman said.

Besides his wife and son, Sherman is survived by his mother Natia, sister
Marilyn and one grandson.

A memorial service is scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m. Monday at
Lithgow-Bennett-Philbrick Funeral Home, 15011 W. Dixie Hwy.