It is with great sadness that we report that Bob Stewart, who served as editor of Royal Bank Letter for a quarter of a century, passed away on 29 December 2003. A hallmark of Bob’s tenure as editor was his versatility resulting from a background of writing about a great variety of subjects as a veteran free lance journalist. His list of former employers includes Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine. His 1977 book, Labrador, was published by Time-Life International. Another book reflecting his interest in Canadian history appeared in 1979: Sam Steele: Line of the Frontier. At various times in his career he was a court reporter, theatre and book critic, a travel and outdoor writer, and an Ottawa correspondent for the Financial Times of Canada. Bob drew on his varied and rich experience as a writer to provide countless readers of Royal Bank Letter with a lasting and enduring legacy of thoughtful and frequently philosophic essays. As he once said, “I am a great believer in Hannah More’s saying that people do not need so much to be instructed and reminded and I am here to remind them that there is steady progress in human affairs that is obscured by the smoke of controversy and conflict. We applaud Bob for clearing away some of that smoke and for making an extraordinarily worthwhile contribution that enriched the lives of readers of Royal Bank Letter. He will be sadly missed.