Pipeman of the Year 2013

Not to sound like a suck up but I'd nominate Kevin. It's really impressive how far he's taken this site and what he's done for the community.

Both excellent choices! With a nod to Kev for this year.
hp

les

I'd pay to see that Kevin....

But, just remember as pipe smokers you'll need to have two cage matchs.

A "False Fight" then a "True"... :nana:

Not to be a suck up, by my vote would go to Kevin. I think he does more for the pipe community than anyone I have seen.

My vote would be for all of us pipesmokers around the world . ::

Well, to make it a little more complicated, I think you need not only a living recipient, but also one from the past, a posthumous award.
My living recipient would be to Kevin Godbee for what he has done for pipe smoking in general. His magazine has been a boon to the hobby.
My posthumous vote would go to the late Craig Tarler, who died within the year. He created C&D, a great tobacco manufacturing company in North Carolina where he and his team blended some exquisite tobaccos. And he was just a wonderful friend to pipe smokers everywhere.

I would vote for Sir Patrick Moore who passed away in December last year at the age of 89. He presented a monthly TV program on astronomy from April 1957 to January 2013, having recorded his last edition just before he died. In all that time he missed just one broadcast when he was suffering from food poisoning.
Many of today's uk astronomers say they we're first inspired by Patrick. I didn't know him well but we had spoken on the phone a few times as well as by letter. He was always generous with his time, happy to share his extensive knowledge. His letters, books and articles were all typed on a 1908 typewriter until arthritis forced him to use more modern keyboards.
During the Apollo era, he was always seen on TV reporting on the missions and puffing away on his pipe. He smoked on the program until the rules about showing smoking on TV were changed.
At the outbreak of WWII he lied about his age so he could join the air force as a navigator. He flew many missions and took part in the rescue of survivors from a concentration camp. As a result he always advocated peace and cooperation rather than the horror of total warfare.
He never married as his fiancé was killed by a bomb during an air raid - he always said he could not marry because he knew how would be settling for second best. When, in his 80s he was asked if he still thought of his late fiancé, he replied that, occasionally, he could go a few moments without missing her.
His hand drawn maps of the Moon were used by both the Americans and Russians during the early days of space flight. He met one of the Wright Brothers, during his flight training and interviewed every astronaut to walk on the Moon. He accompanied Einstein on the piano when he sang at a party in London and was a life long friend of Arthur C Clark, the author and inventor of the communication satellite.
He will be missed by many and enjoyed his pipe from his Air force days until very late in life. A real and true British eccentric who inspired many.

I have to go for Kevin not only for the amount of work for the pipe community, but the constant expansion and higher demand for excellence.

PS - I forgot to edit my post in time, but wanted to add one more anecdote about Patrick Moore. All through his life he financially helped young students in the sciences when he could. As he worked less in later life he suddenly founds himself in some financial difficulty. The "Queen" guitarist Brian May (who is himself a Doctor of science) came to his aid by buying the house that Patrick had lived in for many years. The house was leased back to Patrick for the rest of his life for the sum of one pepper corn to be paid if demanded.
The touching thing is that none of this became public knowledge until after he had died.

Kevin should be awarded the title for his role as, I think, the foremost advocate of pipe smoking today.

Some evidence of that is this forum and the excellent interview he gave on The Colin McEnroe Show.
Since he is young, the new generation of smokers can identify with him and he can continue his leadership role for many years to come.

Well, I'd vote for Neill Archer Roan. Few have done as much for the pipe smoking community. Perhaps another tip of the spear nomination would go to either Fred J. Hanna or Regis McCafferty, as both are great writers, and have also done much to advance pipelore. Oh, how can I forget Marc Munroe Dion. There, those are my picks.

Taking what bikedoctor wrote above, then it would have to be +1 to Kevin

I would have to vote for Kevin. A repeating theme in Cormac McCarthy's works is, "keeping the fire burning." If it's one person that does that for pipe smoking(maybe as a representative for all of us), it's Kevin, the guy with those really nice shoes.
:nana: