GRIFFIN March 2025

March 2025 • CWEA GRIFFIN • 5 Esteemed journalist, art critic and preservationist Robert W. “Duffy,” who died Feb. 7, was known for many things, not the least his trade- mark bow tie. I first met Duffy in 1989 when I was the new publisher of the West End Word newspaper. Duffy was one of the four founders of the neighborhood journal in 1972, a footnote in his long and distin- guished journalism career. We met for coffee and he arrived on his bicycle, with helmet and bow tie. His mix of easy southern charm and erudition overcame my appre- hension, and we had a wonderful chat. He talked about starting the Word on a living room table at his house on Westminster Place and the early days of pasting up pages and dropping off bundles at neigh- borhood restaurants. I last spoke with Bobby in Decem- ber. We discussed his next column for the Griffin , where he has been a guest columnist and art critic for the past few years. Whether writing for a small neighborhood newspaper or a national magazine, Duffy was always precise and well-researched, and he never missed a deadline. Duffy was passionate about the CWE and historic architecture. He was one of the original residents of the Dorris Lofts building at Laclede Avenue and Sarah Street. Built in 1912 as a factory for Dorris auto- mobiles, the building was renovated into condominiums in the 1980s and is listed on the National Reg- ister of Historic Places. He often wrote about historic preservation and in September 2023 received the H. Meade Summers Jr. Award from Landmarks Association during a ceremony in a Portland Place man- sion. “He believes that preserving sturdy, usable buildings is impor- tant, even if they are not architec- tural masterpieces,” said Landmarks Executive Director Andrew Weil. He also turned this passion into education. He taught case studies at Washington University’s architec- tural college, where he was an ad- junct professor. He even had a short stint at the old St. Louis Cathedral elementary school, where he held a “walking class” of Central West End architectural landmarks for grade- school students. One of his students was one of my kids. “I don’t know how much they learned about ar- chitecture,” Duffy told me, “but we had a nice walk.” Duffy had a long and distinguished career in St. Louis. Duffy moved to St. Louis in the 1960s from his home of Little Rock, Arkansas, to study English at Washington University, where he graduated with a degree in English in 1967. He worked at the St. Louis Post- Dispatch for 32 years, beginning in 1973, as a columnist, writer and editor. He was for many years the arts and cultural news editor, on subjects ranging from architecture to art and classical music. Following his retirement from the newspaper, Duffy helped form the St. Louis Beacon, an online news site created by former Post- Dispatch employees that launched in 2008. The Beacon later merged with St. Louis Public Radio in 2013. In 2014, Duffy was named Media Person of the Year by the St. Louis Press Club. In 2016 he reported for STL Public Radio in 2016 on the proposed demolition of the Firmin Desloge Hospital (now St. Louis University Hospital), which was eventually saved. Landmarks As- sociation’s Weil called the building an “architectural masterpiece” and “irreplaceable cultural asset.” Robert W. “Bobby” Duffy: Lover of CWE, Historic Architecture Robert W. Duffy Duffy is survived by his husband Marty Kaplan; son and daughter- in-law James and Shannon Duffy, and grandsons Jefferson and War- ren Gibson, all of Beaufort, South Carolina. A memorial service will be held at a later date. — Jeff Fister Photo by Alison Hillman of BTP by Alison