I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC where I reside with my husband, Bob and Border Collie, Colin. My favorite things to do are reading, working out at the Y, and working in the yard. I used to play golf almost every week with my dad who is now 89 years old. He does not play anymore but I was still going out once in awhile to play and have him ride around in the cart. Over the last year I have been so busy I have not had time to play but I hope to get back to playing at some point.
My sister and I are very fortunate to still have both our parents, My mom is 82 and they still like in the little house we grew up in on the other side of town. We like to travel although long trips are a little much for both of them now. We usually take several bus trips a year with Holiday Tours out of Randleman, NC.
I spent 20 years working as a librarian for the Forsyth County Public Library system right out of library school. In 1998 I left that job to work at home as a research consultant for a couple of years before going back to work. In 2002 I started working for a law firm where I am currently employed. I work as a paralegal assistant in our IP Group.
Barbara,
We’ve never conversed, but I’ve known Bob for ages, did technical editing on BTPPC twice, and traded emails and whatnot over the years. Despite my curmudgeonly and skeptical view of “modern” medicine, I truly do wish him the best, and I’m sure he takes my comments as a scientist: just playing the devil’s advocate.
I have a little get-well present for him while he recuperates; in fact I may have already sent him a copy once… He’ll get a kick out of it, I’m sure. Just a little light reading: a textbook on Physics circa 1929. Heh.
With warm regards,
jim~
cooleyjim@gmail.com
My moniker ‘jim~’ is known to those who know me.
Thanks,
Jim
Hello, Barbara.
I’m hoping I’ve found the correct person, but did you have an uncle Donald P Fritchman who died in France during WW2?
If so, my sister recently acquired a letter written by him shortly before his death and I’d love to connect to make sure it was returned to a family member.
Warmly,
Sabina
Yes, that is correct. Who is your sister?
My sister’s name is Jacqui. But, I don’t believe either one of us have ever met any of your family members. We live in Pennsylvania and she found some old books someone was giving away. Your uncles’s letter was among several other pieces of old correspondence that were written during war time. We are trying to track down the loved ones of the authors so we can make sure these precious memories end up in the right hands.
I’d be happy to discuss it further if you’d like to email me directly at sabinak@mail.com.
Warmly,
Sabina
Hi Barbara,
I had written to Rick Hellewell a while ago:
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Hi Rick,
I felt like writing to you because you maintain https://www.ttgnet.com/index.html, and I am quite indebted to Robert (and now you).
I couldn’t believe that Robert passed away in 2018. I was always fascinated by his Chemistry and Biology Home Science Experiments books. What a great way to introduce these central sciences to children (and, dare I say, to adults)! Please pass this message on to Barbara, Robert’s first wife :-).
The Internet has got to be a true blessing when its spirit is spread by digital friendships like yours and Robert’s. Thank you!
I have decided to follow his book (O’Reilly: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/illustrated-guide-to/9780596514921/), order the Chemistry honors kit from https://www.thehomescientist.com/chemistry-kit-contents-ck01a-honors-us-version, and support lab work with Robert Wolke’s book: https://lwolke.gumroad.com/l/chemex as my self-taught, homeschooled high schooler daughter works with me!
I maintain an aperiodic blog at: https://freelearner.school.blog/. I will write here about my Chemistry relearning with my daughter and with Robert’s book and kits.
Say hi to Robert for me! After all, Terry Pratchett said, “Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”
Best Regards,
-Kedar Mhaswade
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Then I found Nick Flandrey’s webpage and wrote to him:
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Nick,
Hope you are well.
I don’t know how I found your wordpress blog, but I wanted to reach out to pay my homage. I wrote to Rick, but haven’t heard back.
Best Regards,
-Kedar
Also see: https://freelearner.school.blog/2025/11/22/chemistry-explained-by-prof-robert-wolke-and-home-chemistry-experiments-by-robert-bruce-thompson/
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Nick responded and asked me to comment on your blog here. So, I came here. Thank you, Barbara and Robert.