Men of Influence Part 8: Bob Smith

I can imagine God holding a staff meeting back in 2004 and asking the question as to what are we going to do with this guy Baskin? He needs a job and his background is in the poultry industry. One of the staff guys laughed and said "you know it would be fun to have him go to work for this guy Bob Smith in Cumming, Georgia. Imagine this southern boy with a tinge of red around his neck working for a bonafide yankee from New Jersey." God grinned and said, "you know that might be fun for both of these guys."

So a working relationship and a good friendship began in 2004. Bob and I worked pretty closely on a wide variety of projects. Bob was a CPA who found great joy in auditing everything that came across his desk, including your work. I am not an accountant but would describe myself as more of a generalist in the work I do. I can say that I enjoyed my work years from 2004 through 2011 than all the years I had worked in the past. Bob probably taught me more about how to analyze a project than anyone I had worked with in my thirty plus years of working. He taught me about the books of the world and really just plain old common sense analysis of some complicated issues. I thank him for making my work interesting and for sharing his knowledge with me.

In addition to our work, Bob and I enjoyed many conversations on a variety of subjects from politics to religion. Bob had a sense of humor that you had to learn to understand. We enjoyed reading and sharing what our latest book might reveal. We also enjoyed golf together, probably because we were neither very good at it. Bob probably enjoyed the mental aspect of the game and getting under my skin than any part of the game. On more that one occassion I would be leading a match with say five holes left to play and Bob would pose the question, "how many strokes are you up?" The next thing you know the match was over and he won by a stroke.

Bob has retired and I am battling this cancer each day but we still speak to each other frequently. One of my goals is to visit him in his new retirement home this year. I thank God that he brought Bob Smith and I together, even at the end of our careers as he made my past few years full of learning and at the same time fun. Bob would rank as one of if not the smartest guy I ever worked for. He taught me more than I could have imagined and I thank him for taking his time and sharing his knowledge with me. I really look forward to sitting in a rocker on the porch with Bob and sharing a few stories in the near future. Once again, thank you Bob for being my friend and influencing my life.