It is with sadness that I report that our friend and fellow audio traveler, Bill Van Winkle, has passed after an extended battle with cancer.

Bill Van Winkle at Haystack Rock. Photo by Julie Davis.

Pete Riggle sent me a message saying:

Finally Bill has reached escape velocity, not just from earth, but from the Milky Way. I walked out last night and looked up into a clear night sky. I wondered which of those stars was Bill. Personally, I'm happy for Bill. He had a pretty smooth transition, beginning from the time that the doctors ran out of  practical alternatives. Bill was in very good hands with Julie, his children and grandchildren, and hospice. I asked him a number of times about pain. Mostly it was kept under control and often was not problematic. I asked Bill toward the end what he was thinking about. He answered "termination." I asked him if his spirit was good. He confidently answered "yes." He never lost his sense of humor, even making a very good joke yesterday, when he could barely find the breath to speak. Then he grinned the Bill Van Winkle grin. So my friends, give a thought, and drink a parting glass  to the one and only, one of a kind, Bill Van Winkle. 

I would like to offer my condolences to Julie Davis and Bill's extended family on their loss, and I hope they can find some comfort in this difficult time. I hope Julie won't mind that I borrowed a couple of her photos for this blog post about Bill.

Those of you who have been following my audio scribblings for many years probably remember Bill as being an important part of our audio adventures, like back in 2004 when we were sharing some audio fun & games that I wrote about for Six Moons:

Audio pals Pete Riggle and Bill Van Winkle stopped by for a visit and listening session. Pete and Bill, like TASmanian devil Stephæn Harrell (and me), are fans of single-ended amplification with horn-loaded loudspeakers. Pete is a heck of a good SET amplifier builder and his 845 SET integrated Guilty Pleasure sounds tremendously good with his Cain & Cain single horns and gorgeous Thorens 124 vintage turntable. Bill is a sightless master piano restorer who lives the absolute sound. Bill's currently working on restoring a beautiful 100-year old walnut grand piano that is so gorgeous as to tempt me into emptying out my life savings to buy it - and I don't even play piano! You know a guy like Bill's got his priorities straight when he has more pianos than he has audio components - and my oh my, the audio components he does have! How about Cain & Cain double horns, Bruce Edgar horns and single-driver Omega Super 3s to whet your appetite?

All of us here have had some great audio adventures over the years together, with lots of good times to go around, visiting audio shows together, having fun listening to music and talking, and just having a good laugh together.

Bill Van Winkle on the Carousel in Spokane. Photo by Julie Davis.

One of our stars here, Bill Van Winkle, has left the Earth and gone into the heavens where he shall shine ever so brightly. Godspeed Bill Van Winkle!