On January 7th, a friend of the entire Phish community was taken from this world much too early. Robert Eckhart (known by many as Barefoot Bob) found a small spot on his tongue. Sadly, it turned out to be cancer. He went through painful surgeries to have part of his tongue and the lymph nodes in his neck removed. This was followed by numerous, difficult radiation treatments. On Monday, January 7th, he lost his courageous battle and leaves a wife and two children. He was only 37.

Trey was on WXPN this afternoon, on the same day as Bob's services, extolling the virtues of Phish fans and proclaiming them the best fans anywhere.

Let's really prove this point as we have many times in the past and band together as a community and help Bob's family. It makes no difference if you knew him from Phish.net, from Twitter, from tour experiences together, a fleeting hello at one show, just knew his name or never heard of him at all. He is one of us. A fan. A husband, father, brother, son, and friend.

Many artists, Phish and gracious fans and friends have donated a few dozen fantastic items including posters and artwork. Please visit http://barefootbobmemorial.com/ for details on how you can participate. And remember- the most important thing is helping the family so make those donations and dig deep.

Share your thoughts and rememberances of Barefoot Bob in THIS thread.

We are lucky to be part of such a great community. Thank you for reading and contributing.

If you liked this blog post, one way you could "like" it is to make a donation to The Mockingbird Foundation, the sponsor of Phish.net. Support music education for children, and you just might change the world.