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Robert B. Parker was one of the most prolific and acclaimed authors in American literature, publishing over 70 best-selling books over 40 years.ﾠCreator of the memorable private-investigator, Spenser as well as Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall, Bob won awards and fans around the world.ﾠHere in Boston, he was a hometown hero, an adoring husband to his wife, Joan, and a regular fixture at Community Servings' events.

Bob and his wife, Joan were early supporters of Community Servings, iinitially as an HIV meals program and later as an expandedﾠnutrition program for the critically ill.ﾠAs a two-time breast-cancer survivor herself, Joan could understand the isolation and struggles of our clients, and believed that a home-style meal delivered to the doorstep of a sick neighbor was a wonderful gift of love.

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Any ardent fan knows that Bob's great love was Joan H. Parker, his wife of 54 years and the model for Spenser's lover, Susan Silverman.ﾠJoan has been an inspirational board leader for Community Servings, and over the years, Bob and Joan offered us the opportunity to capitalize on the Parker name to benefit the cause when HIV was still controversial and our staff and volunteers were working in relative obscurity.ﾠFor 18 years, they hosted parties in their home, lent the "Spenser" glamour to our fundraising events, and co-chaired TWO capital campaigns to support our 1996 and 2007 building campaigns, including construction of the Joan H. Parker Building in Jamaica Plain, MA.

We are so grateful for their friendship, support and leadership, and will miss Bob dearly.ﾠWe hope that friends and fans will visit www.servings.org/parker to post a remembrance and consider a gift in Bob's memory to Community Servings.

Saying Goodbye to An Old Friend