“I grew up in Williamstown. My father [Ray Washburne] had a bookstore, the College Bookstore. That’s probably where I met Bob. They both loved to be funny, tell funny stories, to have an audience. My father had a very wry wit, I think, that attracted some people to the store and it drove some people away. Bob loved to tease. I mean, he would just stop in and they would talk about books. I remember when he was telling a funny story that he was very amused at his own wit or somebody else’s, he had a wonderful rich laugh, he’d laugh hugely and slap his thigh – ha, ha, ha. He always slapped his thigh like this. He and my father were friends – and on the bowling team together.

–Carla Resenbrink,
John Rensenbrink’s wife