Robert “Bob” Kalish - 1940 - 2026
Robert “Bob” Kalish passed away peacefully, one day shy of his 86th birthday, on the morning of July 31st, 2026, at Midcoast Hospital, in the company of his wife of 40 years, Eloise Vitelli.
Bob was born on August 1st, 1940, in St. Louis, MO, to Simon and Goldie Kalish. He graduated from University City High School in 1958 and, in 2017, was inducted into the University City High School Hall of Fame. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri - Colombia in 1963 and a master’s in education from the University of Southern California in 1973. Before college, Bob enlisted in the Coast Guard, which brought him to the shores of Lake Michigan and the New Jersey coast.
His career in journalism spanned decades and the globe: he started as a reporter for Daily Variety in Hollywood, worked in television and radio for CBS in Chicago, served as a Vietnam war correspondent in Thailand, and retired as a beat reporter for the Times Record, having covered such notable local events as the decommissioning of Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant and the closing of the Brunswick Naval Air Station. He was inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame in 2015 where he was recognized for being “an exquisite writer who exemplifies the fact that, above all, journalists are storytellers.”
He took some detours along the way: He published three novels in a series, thrillers titled “Blood Tide,” “Blood Run,” and “Blood Moon,” that follow Skipper Gould, a journalist and ex-Navy Seal, as he uncovers mysteries at home and abroad. He co-owned and operated a natural food store called the Grainery, at the site where Bath Natural Market still sits today. He co-authored two groundbreaking and award-winning books about climate change with his cousin, NASA climatologist Jack Fishman, and was a contributing author in a number of other publications. For years after his retirement from the Times Record, he wrote a column in the Coastal Journal called ‘Over Easy’, offering his humorous take on current events.
Bob was a practicing Buddhist. He meditated every day, and could often be heard espousing the wisdom of a Zen Koan, sometimes apropos of nothing, such as “Only go straight,” and “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” He had a cache of well-worn jokes that he was always ready to deploy onto fresh ears, reliably eliciting a groan from those who had heard them before. He was always willing to laugh, with others and at himself, and was known to find a joke he was trying to tell so funny that he would be debilitated by laughter; the punchline, when it finally came, was never as gratifying as the laughter it wrought from Bob.
Bob loved shopping for deals at Reny’s. He loved eating a loaded pizza with a Pemaquid Ale from the Cabin. He liked to listen to the Red Sox on his little portable radio while doing the dishes after dinner on a hot summer night. He loved the music of Bob Dylan and the movies of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. He loved movie musicals, like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Guys and Dolls,” so much so that he would frequently break out into song, pretending he was in one. He played basketball at the YMCA well into his 80s. He was a voracious reader, of books, newspapers, magazines.
Bob is survived by his wife, Eloise; his sister, Sheila; his brother, Randy and wife Liz; his sons, Sam Reitman, Will Kalish and wife Alexa; and his grandson, Emet. A celebration of life will be held on Friday, August 7th, from 3 to 5pm at the Bath Freight Shed. In lieu of flowers, enjoy a good bagel with lox, and please support your local newspaper, library, and YMCA.