It was thought fitting that our first "Spotlight" focus on former District Four Director - Bob Whitman, who lost a sudden and unexpected battle with cancer June 10, 2009...

Bob had two passions in life - plants and animals. For those that knew him, Bob expressed himself to the extreme regarding the "bunny-half". His home was a virtual shrine to any and all things having to do with rabbits, and is currently featured in the magazine, Rabbits USA 2009, (Fancy Publications), in an article titled, "Fascinated By Rabbits". Bob was a prolific writer on the subject of rabbits. He recently had two books published: Domestic Rabbits & Their Histories - Breeds of the World, and 1001 Ways To Cook Rabbits. Bob wrote a monthly column for the magazine, Fur & Feather of England, and wrote a bi-monthly column entitled "Historically Speaking", for Domestic Rabbits, (his last column was on the history of Holland, Mini and American Fuzzy Lops, with the help and support of his sister-in-law, Sandy Whitman). Bob had recently agreed to write a book on rabbits for BowTie Press, for their Hobby Farm series, but was unable to complete it due to his illness. Bob also had a website where he wrote about rabbits: www.rarebitsandpieces.com.

He made his home in Beaumont, Texas. He became a member of ARBA on March 5, 1968, and held a Life membership - number 488. Bob was serving as President of the Thrianta Rabbit Breeders Association and was running for a third term as Director of District 4 at the time of his death. His many accomplishments included:

• Founder of the Golden Triangle Youth RC
• President and Secretary of the Texas Youth RC
• ARBA Youth District Director

• Texas Rabbit King and Judging winner (TRBA) - 1969
• Texas Youth Breeder of the Year - 1970
• ARBA King - 1970
• ARBA Judging winner - 1971
• Youth Convention Chairperson - 1971
• Proclamation for "State Rabbit Week" (New Mexico & Texas) 1971
• Imported English and French Lops from Scotland to the U.S. - 1971
• Became the youngest ARBA Registrar (at the time) at age 18
• Charter member of the Lop Rabbit Club of America
• LRCA President (1975-76)
• Charter member of American Beveren RC (Sec-Treas)
• Vice President, American Himalayan Rabbit Club
• Founder of the Rhinelander RC of America (Sec-Treas)
• Founder of the Hotot Rabbit Club Int'l (Sec-Treas)
• Founder of the North American Lionhead RC (President and Vice Pres.)
• Texas Rabbit King (TRBA) - 2009

His rabbitry - Rare Bits and Pieces, over the years, was home to two breeds of cavies, 28 ARBA recognized rabbit breeds, in addition to 12 breeds of rabbits not recognized in the US.

Bob had an enduring passion for rare and endangered rabbit breeds and the preservation of those rabbits. This lead, in September of 2002, to his association with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) to have rabbits accepted into their organization. He was successful in getting the Enderby Island Rabbit and others added to the ALBC list of animals. As a result of his work with the conservancy, there has been an expansion of breeders taking an interest in these rare breeds. For the past 7 years, some of these rabbit populations have grown.

Through his involvement with the ALBC and ARBA, Bob became a consultant on a DNA project to trace the origins of several rabbit breeds through DNA testing. The goal is to enable rabbits to be truly recognized for their purity by obtaining genetic evidence of the origins of some of our modern breeds of rabbits from ancient populations of rabbits.

A HUGE rabbit and cavy history buff, Bob collected old books, prints, artifacts, and collectibles on rabbits and cavies. This, in turn, led him to write Domestic Rabbits & Their Histories - Breeds of the World and the largest rabbit cookbook ever published - 1001 Ways to Cook Rabbit-The Complete Domestic Rabbit Cookbook. Bob wrote a bi-monthly column for the Domestic-Rabbit magazine and has been published in several other rabbit magazines both nationally and world-wide. As ARBA Library Chairperson, Bob raised over $15,000 for the purchase of a huge book collection from England, making the cornerstone of the ARBA Hall of Fame Library. It is the world's largest collection of rabbit and cavy literature - outnumbering the Library of Congress and the U.S. Agricultural Library by several thousand pieces. At the time of his death, Bob had been commissioned by a New Jersey publisher to write another book - Hobby Farms: Rabbits.

Ever the "mover and shaker", in 2000, Bob secured a generous $13,000 donation to purchase two used trailers to transport ARBA equipment for future convention and shows.

Though Bob was obviously empassioned concerning the subject of rabbits and cavies, horticulture was also an avid interest. Bob ran a tropical plant business for over 20 years, collecting specimens throughout the jungles of Central and South America and Northern Australia. He discovered new plants never seen by man, many of which have been named in his honor. He was responsible for creating nearly 300 new tropical hybrids - mostly in the genus cryptanthus (bromeliads). Bob was an internationally accredited master bromiliad judge and founded one international plant society. Through the years, he gave nearly 300 lectures and judged horticultural exhibitions coast to coast as well as abroad. He recently retired as Executive Director of the Beaumont Botanical Gardens. As their Executive Director, he raised funds, and designed and built the second largest tropical plant conservatory in Texas - The Warren Loose Conservtory, which displays various theme gardens from throughout the world. His proudest accomplishment was designing and building the first memorial for the victims of 9/11 in the U.S., which included soil from all three crash sites entombed into the design. This was dedicated on June 22, 2002.

Bob Whitman, was truly a priceless treasure for his family, friends, associates, and the ARBA. He will be missed, but the legacy of his life's work and passion will assure he will never be forgotten.