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SEARCHEd Bobit, founder of Bobit Business Media (which publishes NAILS and VietSALON), passed away peacefully on June 29, at age 86.
NAILS editor Hannah Lee with Ed Bobit, founder of Bobit Busines Media.
NAILS editor Hannah Lee with Ed Bobit, founder of Bobit Busines Media.
Ed Bobit, founder of Bobit Business Media (which publishes NAILS and VietSALON), passed away peacefully on June 29, at age 86. He was publisher of NAILS from the time the company purchased the magazine until 1994. He remained active in the business until the very end, celebrating industry events (like the 2012 City of Hope dinner where George Schaeffer received the Spirit of Life Award) through the Maggie Awards NAILS won, starting in 1993. He was beloved by the NAILS team, who enjoyed his enthusiasm for our magazine (especially in a company filled with magazines about “guy stuff” like cars and trucks and tires). He even got regular manicures and kept his nails buffed to a high shine.
Bobit was a man of outsize pleasures, but none more than his work and family, which were usually one and the same. Ed’s son Ty runs the company (Ed had turned over the CEO mantle to Ty in 2004), and his eldest grandson Blake joined the company in 2010. Ed loved the publishing business and embraced the new directions that business was taking online.
Although he was a salesman at heart, he had the mind of an editor and knew that when you gained the trust of your magazine’s readers, you earned true industry leadership. He was actively involved in the business until the end.
“When I got the call about his passing it was from his house phone, said NAILS group publisher Cyndy Drummey, “and I thought he was calling to talk about our planning meeting the next day. He had an idea he wanted to talk to the whole NAILS team about.”
Though sharp as a tack even later in life, he had cultivated a clever trick early in his career to remember people’s names. He simply called everybody “Coach” and insisted everyone call him Coach as well. It became a term of endearment.
“I loved how even though he hadn’t worked directly on NAILS for years, he always had an idea for me on a new story or a new angle,” said Hannah Lee, NAILS associate publisher and editor.
“Ed Bobit was a huge influence on my career,” said publisher Michelle Mullen. “He was tough and I learned a lot. I loved watching him with his clients. He listened intently and remembered everything they said. If I can do one thing to honor him it would be to emulate his work ethic.”
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