Bravo Sierra Computer's Ben Smith

[+x=usr(1536)]

12 hours ago, Stephen said:

Sad - I just heard a few hours ago and also posted.  I hope somehow if he does have family, they can be made aware of the messages to him.  Apologies for the duplicate thread.

I have contact information for Ben's caregiver, and will see if they are able to pass on any condolences to Ben's family.  Please note that I will not enquire as to any Atari items as this is not an appropriate time to do so.

 

Ben was a great character, and he helped me rekindle my love of Atari a couple of decades ago.  Although I never met him, we did speak on the phone many times and he came across as someone whose passion for all things Atari was deep.  He (and his Usenet posts on comp.sys.atari.8bit) will be missed.

[Mclaneinc]

Trust me Stephen, I wasn't trying to point a finger, just stating that at some point someone close should tell the family, we all know it's not the done thing at the moment, but it should be addressed at some point. That's exactly what you, MrFish etc were saying.

 

As for dying, I faced the notion of my death early on with cancer, made me think a hell of a lot but now I just am pleased it never went further and get on with my little life. It's sadly when stuff come to an end, as you say re the metal working but it's just one of lifes little bends in the river. As we all look at this, it is very sad that a fellow Atarian and human being has died but we hope his family can help continue that legacy by putting all his gear out there, even if it's selling it to pay towards a funeral or giving it to interested parties..RIP Ben...You made folk happy...

 

 

[Mclaneinc]

16 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

I have contact information for Ben's caregiver, and will see if they are able to pass on any condolences to Ben's family.  Please note that I will not enquire as to any Atari items as this is not an appropriate time to do so.

 

Ben was a great character, and he helped me rekindle my love of Atari a couple of decades ago.  Although I never met him, we did speak on the phone many times and he came across as someone whose passion for all things Atari was deep.  He (and his Usenet posts on comp.sys.atari.8bit) will be missed.

I'm sure no one will try to enquire about his gear, folks in these forums are kind and caring people, we'll chat about the man and his doings, a little bit of honouring the man as it should be. If there's any gofundme thing then please let us know..

[mimo]

52 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Please note that I will not enquire as to any Atari items as this is not an appropriate time to do so.

Agreed, but also worth making someone aware that there is value in the stuff and not to throw it out 

[+x=usr(1536)]

1 minute ago, mimo said:

Agreed, but also worth making someone aware that there is value in the stuff and not to throw it out

While I agree with the sentiment, that will not be part of the conversation at this time.

[+Stephen]

2 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said:

I have contact information for Ben's caregiver, and will see if they are able to pass on any condolences to Ben's family.  Please note that I will not enquire as to any Atari items as this is not an appropriate time to do so.

 

Ben was a great character, and he helped me rekindle my love of Atari a couple of decades ago.  Although I never met him, we did speak on the phone many times and he came across as someone whose passion for all things Atari was deep.  He (and his Usenet posts on comp.sys.atari.8bit) will be missed.

That is good to hear.  Please let them know that numerous people had interactions with him and that he will be missed.

[+DarkLord]

Wow. I had not kept up with Ben lately but BITD I had ordered various

Atari items from him.

 

R.I.P guy!

 

[+slx]

Never ordered from him but heard the interview on ANTIC and then started to note threads about him here. I never dealt with him as I'm on the other side of the Atlantic but he sure deserves thanks for supporting the Atari community. Listening to the interview I thought that it is great that this Atari business, however professionally or non-professionally it might have been, was something he seemed to enjoy despite the challenges life seemed to have thrown at him. (I also noted that he probably would not have been able to do this over here with so much more bureaucracy to take care of as a business owner.)

[gilsaluki]

A few weeks ago I was getting many Bravo Sierra emails pitching me to buy more Atari stuff.  He had stopped mailing hardware, and I am a hardware guy.  Most of what he had (for 8 bits) I already have.  Wish I could have used him more than the single order I did place with him a few years back.  I knew he was always there in the background.  We always miss what we cannot have.  Ben was a true Atari Soldier. I too hope someone takes the time and passes his passion to people can will enjoy them.  Please don't trash a thing.  Even paperwork is valuable. 

[mickster]

9 hours ago, DarkLord said:

Wow. I had not kept up with Ben lately but BITD I had ordered various

Atari items from him.

 

R.I.P guy!

 

It was your BBS that I learned about Bravo Sierra Computers.  I started ordering from him because he had a ton of ST books that I couldn't find anywhere else.

 

The 14 volume set of Abacus Atari ST books have several volumes that are very hard to find.  He had them all. 

 

He was a very nice guy that loved Atari stuff.

 

 

[+DarkLord]

9 hours ago, mickster said:

It was your BBS that I learned about Bravo Sierra Computers.  I started ordering from him because he had a ton of ST books that I couldn't find anywhere else.

 

The 14 volume set of Abacus Atari ST books have several volumes that are very hard to find.  He had them all. 

 

He was a very nice guy that loved Atari stuff.

 

 

 

We have a "Special" listing in our Info/News section where I would sometimes post his catalog listings,

when no other specials or sales were going on.

 

Fun fact, I had placed an order one time that he was a little bit unclear on. So I'm sitting at home late

one Sunday night (we're talking around 12:30am or so) and the phone rang. It was Ben, calling me to

discuss that order. We talked Atari for over an hour. 

 

It was the time differential, I reckon.

 

[Biff Burgertime]

Pardon the silly question at a sensitive time like this, but I'm too curious... "bravo sierra," that's a euphemism for "BS" aka "Bullshit" right?

 

If so, exellent name for a computer store. Tech shops too often have drab, unremarkable names.

[+slx]

45 minutes ago, Buffalo Biff Burgertime said:

Pardon the silly question at a sensitive time like this, but I'm too curious... "bravo sierra," that's a euphemism for "BS" …

I suppose this is pure coincidence as the late owner was called Ben Smith and called it Bravo Sierra which happens to be the international way of phonetically spelling those two letters (e.g. via radio).

[mattsoft]

On 10/29/2022 at 2:46 AM, slx said:

I suppose this is pure coincidence as the late owner was called Ben Smith and called it Bravo Sierra which happens to be the international way of phonetically spelling those two letters (e.g. via radio).

No coincidence, it's why it was called Bravo Sierra. Ben also liked to get paid in his name sake "Benjamins" as in $100 bills. Every time I bought from him, he asked if I could do so. 

[_The Doctor__]

Ben could talk, Ben could talk for hours, he talked about Atari, he talked about his situation and family. Ben did not want to be put in a care facility, and had a caregiver to help him out. I am saddened to hear he has passed but I am glad that as of the last time we spoke, he was still living life on his own terms and not in a facility. I hope his passing was peaceful. He had his own 'system' when it came to organizing his goods. I doubt family will sort through it easily and would say letters sent to his address might be written as to indicate that it's to his Family/Estate so that they might open it as opposed to tossing it.

[gilsaluki]

Any updates?  I was wondering about him, his collection...hoping it doesn't end up in the Portland city dump.  Heaven forbid.  

[+x=usr(1536)]

Contact was made, and it was not appropriate to follow it up.

[gilsaluki]

2 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Contact was made, and it was not appropriate to follow it up.

Probably still too soon.  I am sure there were boxes on boxes of "stuff" the family had to get out of the apartment and into storage.  I am hoping it went into storage. 

[jhd]

14 hours ago, gilsaluki said:

I am sure there were boxes on boxes of "stuff" the family had to get out of the apartment and into storage.  I am hoping it went into storage. 

 

My Grandfather's many, many "treasures" were initially left largely undisturbed in his house for some 15 years following his death. 

 

I assisted in disposing of them. The family first took what they wanted. We started trying to sell things, then we tried charitable donations and offering things to people we knew who may be interested, lastly things went to landfill as we still needed to empty the house so that it could be sold. Most of his "treasures" were well outside of our knowledge and interest. I cannot even properly identify e.g. a specialist piece of equipment, much less answer questions about its condition to a potential buyer: "It presumably worked some 15 to 20 years ago."

 

While I am certain that someone, somewhere would have been excited to obtain this stuff, the challenge is finding that person. Even if it is given away for free, someone still has to package it for non-local shipment. This requires time and money; things very often in short supply when settling an estate. 

 

The best that can be hoped for is that Smith's estate is sold as a wholesale lot to a local dealer or reseller. I would be shocked if a family member wished to take-over the business. 

 

 

 

 

[Justin Payne]

@jhd I agree that it takes some effort. I learned this the hard way when my mom passed. I tried to do my best to figure out what was valuable and what is considered "valuable" is up to interpretation seeing the stuff that was important to their generation isn't so much to this one. For example, my mom had two punchbowls, I'm assuming one from her wedding BUT I don't think punchbowls are used much these days. I still needed to box things up to take them to the local second hand store. Yes, organizing the boxes by "Type of thing" would have to be done but generally these "things" exist in the same area so it's not like you're going to have boxes of misc things. For example, "Free box of tools" or "free kitchen items". If you posted those on Craigslist, someone would just come and get them. I would tape them up and say, "Take all boxes of this type" and mark them accordingly. I've given away several free items and I'm always surprised what people take. For example, I gave away a bag of road maps from the 80's and 90's about a year ago. I definitely can see the importance in them seeing road layout change but I can't image how this would be really useful to anyone...but I'm sure some people would feel this way about old computers.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Justin Payne
bad English fix

[Mclaneinc]

I doubt it would be a via business in this economic climate, and if the family were not in to that side, then there's almost zero chance they would take it over. When my old friend Bob died there was stuff in his flat and shed that was of no interest to me  so I had promised Bob I'd make sure his pals got his records. I tried my best to pass them on but because Bob was much around 20yrs older than me, it meant a majority of his friends were of a similar age or had passed already. I managed to track down one guy who was still alive and contacted him. I mentioned the records and he was very excited but lived a long way from me. Being records they were very heavy, and I simply could not send them on my money, and he was a pensioner with no money. 

 

The records never went anywhere and although we kept in contact that started to get less and less. Now his phone just rings, I fear the worst.

 

The point, showing what Jhd was saying, handling someone's estate is never easy, I feel bad I could not pass on the records, they sit under my bed. Hopefully Ben's family will pass on the stock to someone, no one wants to see it go into landfill, but if they have no clue what it is then that's the most likely outcome. I just hope the ceremony was good and went well.

[gilsaluki]

9 hours ago, jhd said:

 

My Grandfather's many, many "treasures" were initially left largely undisturbed in his house for some 15 years following his death. 

 

I assisted in disposing of them. The family first took what they wanted. We started trying to sell things, then we tried charitable donations and offering things to people we knew who may be interested, lastly things went to landfill as we still needed to empty the house so that it could be sold. Most of his "treasures" were well outside of our knowledge and interest. I cannot even properly identify e.g. a specialist piece of equipment, much less answer questions about its condition to a potential buyer: "It presumably worked some 15 to 20 years ago."

 

While I am certain that someone, somewhere would have been excited to obtain this stuff, the challenge is finding that person. Even if it is given away for free, someone still has to package it for non-local shipment. This requires time and money; things very often in short supply when settling an estate. 

 

The best that can be hoped for is that Smith's estate is sold as a wholesale lot to a local dealer or reseller. I would be shocked if a family member wished to take-over the business. 

 

 

 

 

This is the story that I have seen time and time again.  We collect things.  We often think our kids, whomever will "take care" of the treasures after we depart (see to it they are valued as we valued them, and see it they find good homes).  In reality, our family, friends really have no passion.  Those things are just stuff.  Stuff that takes up valuable space and time.  Sad for all.  But, and this is a big one, those things were joyful for the now departed person. 

[darwinmac]

3 hours ago, gilsaluki said:

This is the story that I have seen time and time again.  We collect things.  We often think our kids, whomever will "take care" of the treasures after we depart (see to it they are valued as we valued them, and see it they find good homes).  In reality, our family, friends really have no passion.  Those things are just stuff.  Stuff that takes up valuable space and time.  Sad for all.  But, and this is a big one, those things were joyful for the now departed person. 

To me, the key is for the now departed person to plan for its disposal before death (if you don’t want it thrown away). 
 

My late Dad had a classical music collection (with scores) that meant a great deal to him. He planned for where it would go after he died. He gave away most of it in the last five years before he died so he knew it would go to people who would appreciate it. 
 

His last item was something left to me to get to its proper place (a small college in New York). He had done the leg work so his gift would be accepted. I had to send some emails to try to find the correct person to accept the gift. It took time, and some money from our estate, but I was able to accommodate his wishes. 
 

When I see or hear of people with rooms or warehouses of stuff (be it retro computers or anything else), I think about the mess it will be for their heirs to clean up. They will have no idea if they’re throwing out an Apple I motherboard or something that only had value to the deceased. 
 

My wife already knows that my very small collection only has value to me. My 800XL, XEGS, and MiST won’t be worth her trouble to try to sell. 
 

Bob C

[_The Doctor__]

17 minutes ago, darwinmac said:

To me, the key is for the now departed person to plan for its disposal before death (if you don’t want it thrown away). 
 

My late Dad had a classical music collection (with scores) that meant a great deal to him. He planned for where it would go after he died. He gave away most of it in the last five years before he died so he knew it would go to people who would appreciate it. 
 

His last item was something left to me to get to its proper place (a small college in New York). He had done the leg work so his gift would be accepted. I had to send some emails to try to find the correct person to accept the gift. It took time, and some money from our estate, but I was able to accommodate his wishes. 
 

When I see or hear of people with rooms or warehouses of stuff (be it retro computers or anything else), I think about the mess it will be for their heirs to clean up. They will have no idea if they’re throwing out an Apple I motherboard or something that only had value to the deceased. 
 

My wife already knows that my very small collection only has value to me. My 800XL, XEGS, and MiST won’t be worth her trouble to try to sell. 
 

Bob C

not true, many people value you and your hobby, your machines clearly would be cared for and loved by others and in doing so you bring joy unknowingly to others

 

[jhd]

9 hours ago, darwinmac said:

To me, the key is for the now departed person to plan for its disposal before death (if you don’t want it thrown away). 
 

My late Dad had a classical music collection (with scores) that meant a great deal to him. He planned for where it would go after he died. He gave away most of it in the last five years before he died so he knew it would go to people who would appreciate it. 

 

This is a really good point.

 

I have a very large (several thousand volume) specialized collection of books on a topic that I am passionate about. A handful of items are rare and inherently valuable, but the main value lies in the depth of collection itself, which I have been assembling for more than thirty years. 

 

I want to see it go to an institution that will keep it together, but finding the right place is a challenge. Fortunately I still have a few years to make those arrangements. There is nobody in my life that cares about this collection.