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Bob’s long-time life partner Gay Conrad; they were married on Easter Weekend. Dr. Bob Bagg 16 ATLANTIC CANADA FRANK APRIL 27, 2010 THE LIFE & TIMES OF DR. ROBERT BAGG BY CLIFF BOUTILIER MOUNT SAINT VINCENT BUSINESS PRO- FESSOR, DR. BOB BAGG, 64, DIED OF LIVER CANCER ON APRIL 7. The cancer was discovered in mid-February after a dramatic weight loss of in the range of 80-90 pounds in recent months. On Easter Weekend, Bob Bagg married his long-time sweetie Gay Conrad. Prior to that, he went out to St. John’s Anglican Cemetery bought his plot, and Bob being Bob, joked that he was a first-time landowner. Last month family members, close friends and MSVU faulty members gathered at Halifax’s Saraaguay Club to honour the well- Bob (right) with his buddy, Valley lawyer Bruce Gillis. Old friend Bob Flute. known educator who in Macleans magazine was named by students as one of their most popular professors. At the university itself, carpenters were quick to install what Bob referred to as the “Bob Bagg Memorial Handrail.” Two weeks ago Bob emailed his self-composed obit to Frank magazine with the foreword, which read in part: “Following is my Obit (large, rough draft) ... if one is going to write one’s own, may as well say it all, rather than have a friend simply write “Sayonora Bob, Keep the $20.” This was the indomitable Oscar “Either that wallpaper goes, or I do” Wilde spirit which both filled and fuelled Bob Bagg. It was the spirit Bob fashioned through a host of varied vocations, life experiences, and through the people who influenced him most. Chief among those people was his mother Margaret, who graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1939, and who returned to Dal in her “retirement” years to pursue a Masters of Laws. She was a trailblazer in her own right. New Brunswick born, she met Montreal born Doug Bagg, another law student at the time, and they married on Dec. 6, 1941. After the Second World War, they moved to Montreal, where Bob was born. Returned to Halifax in 1963, where Bob and his younger brother, Deryck, were raised at the family home on Norwood Street. Bob’s dad died in 1975, and for the next 30 years his mom ran the family home, where all were welcome. Margaret Bagg died in ’07, and as noted in her obituary, “She was the finest example of the affection one receives when one treats others with grace and respect.” She was 91. Long-time friend, Halifax businessman Bob Flute, called Bob Bagg “a chip off his mother’s block.” Bob & Bob met at the Greywood Lounge in October 1973. “Like his mother, Bob (was) open-minded and one of the most non-judgmental people, you will ever meet. That’s part of the reason he turned out to be such a wonderful educator, in and outside the classroom.” Like all close to the devastating news, Bob Flute is in awe of his friend’s courage these past few months. “Bob has provided a template for each of us,” he explained. Annapolis County lawyer Bruce Gillis also met Bob at Dal, in 1967. He recalled the first time he laid eyes on Bob. CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
Dr. Bob Bagg (far right) and some fellow members of the Benevolent Funipendulous Society of Nova Scotia Logotechnicians. SERIAL GOOD GUY SHOCKER! BY CLIFF BOUTILIER THERE ARE PEOPLE, WHO, IF THEY DO NOT DIRECTLY SHAPE YOUR LIFE, LEND TO IT SOMETHING QUITE GRAND. THESE PEOPLE MAY NOT BE SEEN THAT OFTEN BUT NEITHER IS THE FASHION OF GENUINE AFFECTION THEY ENGENDER. If you are uncommonly fortunate, this person will also come with a comfortable couch and a finely tuned sense of direction, or at the very least some notion of East-West; North- South. Particularly South End Halifax. I knew Bob Bagg for more than 20 years. Casual friends. No Christmas cards ever exchanged, summery vacations, car-pooling together, or anything of the sort, thank you. I never took a class from Bob Bagg, never swapped research papers with Bob Bagg, and the only lab work we ever did together was in that most human of laboratories, a pub or a tavern, as they’re sometimes referred to by others not yet so enlightened. I lay no claim to having been part of Bob’s inner circle, but a fondness for conversation and refreshment brought us together over the course of time. Bob and I, we were enlisted men and damn proud of it. Circa 1988-93, Frankland World Headquarters was situated in “a sewing room” in the front courtyard of Halifax’s Brewery Market stuffed between Hollis & Lower Water streets. The matching white cathedral windows of the sewing room were a lovely touch, but what sat directly across that concrete courtyard I found to be an object of some curiosity, a place sometimes for quiet refuge, and on more than one occasion a short walk in defiance. It was Alexander’s Pub, owned and operated by well-known Halifax barkeep Neil Gillis, ex Jury Room, ex The Network Lounge, etc., etc. Alexander’s never had much in the way of natural light, but come 4:30 p.m., particularly on a Thursday or a Friday, a litany of characters would gather to help light up the joint. Figuratively speaking, of course. Also seeking end of the day asylum were a number of high-ranking civil servants. Among them at least one John Buchanan deputy minister who actually started about noon. (Hey, that’s cheating! - ed.) Must have been part of Premier Buchanan’s Leave No Deputy Minister Behind Program. Best, I can figure. Anyway, this devout soul was routinely joined by equally high ranking car salesmen, architects, draftsmen, engineers, Halifax firemen, Finnish actors, jewellers, psych nurses, war vets, and now and then, a real man of letters. Not I. A Happy Hour price-driven lot we were. For those few hours after your work was done, while you waited, possibly, for a significant other to pick you up, before the up-thewall music started, Alexanders was an ideal spot to pick up a jar and a story, or two, if that was your bag. Depending, of course, on just how many empty pages you had left directly across the courtyard. It was there, I first met prodigious reader Bob Bagg. Seemed everybody knew Professor Bob ‘cept me. You see Bob had a large presence, and was an extremely communicative fellow. Talked a bit. You heard him when he walked into the joint, and when he was leaving the joint you heard him again. We just weren’t communicating. No matter. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE APRIL 27, 2010 ATLANTIC CANADA FRANK 17
Page 1 and 2: MODEL BEHAVIOUR: FROM THE N.S. REHA
Page 3 and 4: ATLANTIC CANADA FRANK HALIFAX, NOVA
Page 5 and 6: LIBERAL CANDIDATE LAUNCHED IRISH AB
Page 7 and 8: BEAR BURNING TO BE BACK IN A KITCHE
Page 9 and 10: MYRA FOUGHT THE LAW & THE LAW WON..
Page 11 and 12: HOW TO SKIN A CAT BYELECTION NEWS B
Page 13 and 14: PAULA IS ON THE JOB BY LEFTY MCCASH
Page 15: SHURLEY SOME MISTAKE! BY A. FRANK G
Page 19 and 20: BARKEEP MEL ON THE MEND BY A. FRANK
Page 21 and 22: At the “Funis” Silver Jubilee g
Page 23 and 24: SWIPE ACCUSED FACES MORE CHARGES BY
Page 25 and 26: WHAT’S A SWEET VIEW LIKE YOU DOIN
Page 27 and 28: HOUSE ARREST NEWS BY JAYE LORR SEEM
Page 29 and 30: ARE YOU SURE NOW TREVOR? REMEMBER,
Page 31 and 32: FAX ANYTIME: (902) 423-0281 LETTERS

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