Bob and I became friends in the early 70's when we helped him with another project named Guppies to Groupers, which was a 13 program series, 1/2 hour long on tropical fish. The host was a mutual friend Paul Speice. The first program statrer out with the camera focused on a fish net chasing tropical fish inside a aquarium. As the camera widened we saw a arm attached to the net. As it widened further to full view, we saw Paul Sleice inside a 220 Gal aquarium, chaing those fish! His openning line was "Tropical fish is a hobby you can really get in to!".This journey began our relationship with many dinners and great times. I visited WQLN many times and years later had a board seat on Free to Choose. We had dinner with Milton and Rose a couple of times and many times, when Bob was on the the left coast. I also spent a couple of nights a Bob and Carol's house. We had a great friendship and I always admired his passion and ability to raise money! As the years flew by, we didn't see each other very often, but I always knew that if we got together, it would be just like the old days. He was a great visionary, who loved his family, his work and his friends. RIP Bob, you made a difference!

Working with Bob to create the PBS series "A More or Less Perfect Union" was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Bob started with the idea that Free to Choose should "do something on the Constitution" and ended up bringing three hours of television to life, I won't say Bob made it look easy because it wasn't. But he did show how one could overcome every obstacle with grace and good humor when animated by the desire to share with others a better understanding of how humans flourish in a free society. I think Bob's determination to do that, and to keep on doing it, helped keep his cancer at bay for so long.  Principled, creative, humanitarians don't often come along; when one does, we much cherish him, and now the memory of him, Thank you, Bob, for everything you have left behind, on the screen and in our hearts.

Working with Bob was an adventure; it was often times challenging, immensely rewarding, sometimes hilarious, and an absolute honor. To me, one of Bob’s most charming qualities was his generous gift of himself, whether engaging in a discussion about free markets (that could change your perception of an issue), singing a song or reciting poetry to open a meeting, or donning a wizard robe and whittling his own magic wand to help teach students the Libertarian themes that run through the Harry Potter series.  He had no inhibiting self-consciousness and his unbridled enthusiasm was contagious.

The first time I attended a FTCN Christmas party, Bob sang The Christmas Song to the employees gathered. He was animated as he sang, like a grown elf sharing the magic of the season. I was verklempt. A couple of years later, just before Christmas, Bob was in Austin, and he, Kristen O’Brien, and I made a round of meetings, ending with dinner at a crowded vegetarian restaurant. As we finished our meal, Bob leaned into the table and softly began singing The Christmas Song to Kristen and me. Both of us smiled, then leaned in and joined him, singing quietly, so it was just the three of us who could hear. What a gift. It was a very precious moment; one that I cherish to this day.

I would say RIP Bob, but I suspect he is already working on some new project with Milton and Rose…

Back in the 1980s, I was living with my then-wife in my old hometown of New Castle in western Pennsylvania. As a writer interested in free-market/limited-government principles, I had been covering and commenting on a lot of political and economic topics. We also hosted a monthly discussion forum in our home, which attracted speakers and participants from all over the region.

I forget exactly how my path first crossed Bob Chitester's, but we became friends. I soon invited him to speak at our forum. As a talented television producer and creative documentary filmmaker, Bob had by then already achieved the most amazing triumph of his long career: translating, scripting, producing, and filming Dr. Milton Friedman's bestselling book, "Free to Choose," as a fascinating, multi-part series for PBS. Given its controversial content, Bob's ability to get it on public television, where it has since been viewed by millions worldwide, was astonishing. Yet not if you knew the man.

For several years, we cooperated on some projects -- notably, the production and sale of recorded interviews he'd conducted with a host of brilliant thinkers, such as noted economists James Buchanan, Walter Williams, and many more. Bob was a terrific interviewer, bringing forth not just the ideas of these notable individuals, but also something of their personalities and backgrounds. I can't begin to tell you how much I learned from Bob's probing questions, nor how much of a pleasure it was to work with him. I also interviewed Bob for a little magazine I wrote for at the time.

On the personal level, Bob was a remarkable man. I remember vividly his intelligence and passion for ideas; his boundless optimism and unflagging energy; his wonderful warmth and gentle graciousness. Despite his intransigent commitment to his principles, he expressed his views calmly and cheerfully -- never with the dark anger of the zealot. Recalling his reasonable manner and personable style, I think of the old movie title "Friendly Persuasion." Though his views might be considered controversial by many, I cannot imagine that this man could have accumulated enemies.

During his life Bob Chitester had a profound and enduring impact on the thinking of countless people around the world. I will let others chronicle the details of his remarkable persuasive legacy. I will remember him more personally, as a man and friend who made my own life better for having known him.

My deepest sympathy to his family and many, many friends.                 

My deepest condolences to Bob's family and friends on his passing. I had the honor of supporting some of Bob's Free To Choose educational efforts when I was a Trustee of the Weinberg Foundation. He also introduced me to the great Walter Williams. Bob was the consummate gentleman and scholar and an inspiring leader. America and those closest to him will miss him. He made a meaningful contribution to rational public discourse in his time with us. 

When I moved to Chicago (where I would later meet Bob after an America's Future event around 2011) to start my first job in the “liberty movement,” my younger sister Julia moved in with me while she was attending college locally. Occasionally, when she returned from a late class, she would walk into our apartment to see Milton Friedman on screen talking about Hong Kong, one-room schoolhouses, or quoting Leonard Read about the miraculous origins of the simple pencil. By this point, Free To Choose was on DVD so it could be played at will whenever I needed some extra inspiration. This became enough of a pattern that my sister told my friends that this was happening, which prompted them to joke that when I had my own children they would be introduced to “Uncle Milton” not terribly long after being born.

My loyalty to the show and its ideas culminated, not yet in showing any children I might later have, but in those friends joking that my epitaph would read, “The market decided.”

In Bob's case, the market has decided conclusively that he was the absolute best each of us can hope to be.

In 2016, when FEE awarded Bob the Blinking Lights Award, Larry Reed called you a pioneer for putting free-market ideas before large television audiences. In so doing, Bob set the gold standard for something that many of we mere mortals in the liberty movement have been trying to replicate for the past four decades: mainstreaming free-market economics. His example has inspired our work at FEE and constantly raises the question, “Why shouldn’t we aim to get our work onto PBS, Netflix, or Amazon?”

I remain in awe of Bob's accomplishments, his generous and indefatigable spirit, and how he has inspired me and our entire movement to aim higher. RIP, Bob Chistester.

From Dana Gioia, a poet Bob often read to us:

Summer Storm

We stood on the rented patio
While the party went on inside.
You knew the groom from college.
I was a friend of the bride.

We hugged the brownstone wall behind us
To keep our dress clothes dry
And watched the sudden summer storm
Floodlit against the sky.

The rain was like a waterfall
Of brilliant beaded light,
Cool and silent as the stars
The storm hid from the night.

To my surprise, you took my arm–
A gesture you didn’t explain–
And we spoke in whispers, as if we two
Might imitate the rain.

Then suddenly the storm receded
As swiftly as it came.
The doors behind us opened up.
The hostess called your name.

I watched you merge into the group,
Aloof and yet polite.
We didn’t speak another word
Except to say goodnight.

Why does that evening’s memory
Return with this night’s storm–
A party twenty years ago,
Its disappointments warm?

There are so many might have beens,
What ifs that won’t stay buried,
Other cities, other jobs,
Strangers we might have married.

And memory insists on pining
For places it never went,
As if life would be happier
Just by being different.

Bob was a game changer in the freedom movement. His work with the Friedmans in filming FREE TO CHOOSE slowed the global tide of socialism and made converts for freedom and free enterprise of millions around the world. The FREE TO CHOOSE NETWORK has continued this movement and will be a lasting legacy and tribute to Bob! Our sympathy and prayers to Bob's family at this time of immense loss!   Love, Tim & Pam Nash 

It was a pleasure to get to know Bob while working on A More or Less Perfect Union while I was in charge of drumming up community engagement efforts and events to support the series. We mostly traveled together, Bob showing me the ropes in many ways and mentoring me with his wide ranging ideas he had for the series that he was passionate about. Even though we didn't always see eye to eye, I soaked up his curiousity, intellect and voracity for life...I love that we could discuss music, a mutual love for England, where I grew up, and traveling, as well as fast cars and Formula 1! We could cover the most high brow topics as well as more general interest and cultural trends, like his love for Fixer Upper and what Chip and Joanna Gaines were up to....all while sharing a Beyond Burger at at Burger King. Or we could be sipping a French bordeaux in the company of leading economists, CEO's, revered church leaders and  high level judges. Life was never boring when you were on the road with Bob and he often had a twinkle in his eye and a new trick / idea up his sleeve. It was a true gift to know Bob, and he was truly a one of a kind. Condolences to his immediate family and work family.

 I turned around in my seat ,in the seventh grade ,to admire Bobby's fingernails.He had trimmed them with his mother's pinking shears and was very pleased with the results. He was a free thinker even then.