Bob began his career as a bookbinder in Dallas TX, having developed a love for old books when, as a child, he had been given an old family Bible. While still in high school, he became an apprentice to Dallas bookbinder, Horace Teddlie. His bookbinding skills lead him to the art of fine binding, and then to book and paper conservation, as opportunities opened up for him to work and train with other respected conservators. He quickly gained experience by working on old and rare books, such as those of the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University. In 1979, he became the conservator for the Dallas Public Library, where he had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of books and paper objects. His duties also included disaster planning for the library, and giving public presentations on conservation to various interest groups.
In 1982, Bob decided to return to private practice, and a move to Colorado began to take shape. At that time, Bob also began to see a need for corporations to have more practical access to conservation services for their often extensive archive collections. He designed his new workshop to accommodate large conservation projects, and it was completed just about the time he was contacted by the Mrs. Baird's Bread Company, at that time the largest family owned bakery in the world. This company had a rich history, all recorded in newspaper articles, advertisements, documents, etc., all deteriorating and in terrible condition. This irreplaceable collection, left to itself, would have been lost, but Bob took on the project of over 5,000 objects, completed it, and now this family has preserved these precious, historical items.
Since that time, Bob has restored and preserved objects in the archive collections of several other companies including Dr. Pepper/7Up, Nestle/Hill's Bros., Rollins/Orkin, Proctor & Gamble, and primarily the Coca-Cola Co. Linda Inge, Bob's wife, serves as his assistant, particularly in the area of restorative inpainting, and together they provide excellent conservation services to their corporate clients, as well as to art dealers, museums, collectors, and individuals.