Sad news: our member b-y has passed away

I only learnt recently that my friend and ED forum member Prof. Yale Braunstein had passed away a few months ago.

Yale was a professor in the UC Berkeley School of Information, and an ardent BMW fan. I met him thru the forum, and then met him in person when he was doing an ED while I was staying in Vienna. I was able to show him and his wife around the Wachau region and we had a wonderful day. And yes, they bought some Marillenmarmalade.

Since that time, I visited him and his wife many times during my visits to the Bay Area and he even invited me to deliver a guest lecture on Information Overload at UC Berkeley last summer. That was the last time I saw him in person. We had lunch at the faculty club that sunny day.

Yale was also an infrequent contributor to Frequent Business Traveler magazine. His last piece, What's Doing in Eisenstadt, Austria, was published five days before his death.

My heartfelt sympathy to his wife Betsy, his son, Alex, and his sister, Hetty Jane.

Link to official UC Berkeley obituary

American Lancia Club obituary

Two of my photos from our tour of the Wachau


Prof. Dr. und Frau Prof. Dr. Braunstein along the Donau in Dürnstein in Niederösterreich


Prof. Dr. und Frau Prof. Dr. Braunstein at Stift Melk in Niederösterreich



b-y driving his 1958 Lancia Aurelia convertible in 1980

I noticed that he hadn't posted in some time. He was always helpful.
RIP b-y.

Jeeze, that's three that I know of - Jever, Opperknockity and now B-Y ...

Originally Posted by EdCT

Jeeze, that's three that I know of - Jever, Opperknockity and now B-Y ...

Don't forget djfitter.

Very sorry to hear this news. Yale and his wife traveled extensively in Europe and he made major contributions to this forum and to the Wiki, apparently for many years before I discovered Bimmerfest. He will be missed.

In November last year Jon Shafer announced a tour of the Port Hueneme VDC and lots of people signed up for it, including Yale. The only problem was that Yale had recently taken a tumble down a flight of stairs and wouldn't be able to drive from Berkeley. He still very much wanted to go and said that he would fly into LAX on Friday with his wife if someone could pick them up. Since my wife and I were driving up to Oxnard from San Diego on Friday evening, and driving practically right by LAX, we offered to pick them up. His wife became unavailable some time before the trip so he made the trip alone. We were quite surprised to see what condition was when in we got to LAX. Even though this happened several weeks earlier, he looked like he had just been mugged and required the use of a cane. I'm probably at least 10-15 years younger than him and I wouldn't have made the trip in that condition. We all stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Oxnard that night, met for breakfast in the morning, and he rode with us to the VDC.

He had a great time at the tour, bid on and won a BMW bicycle that was donated by the VDC, all so he could drive the new Active-E which was part of the prize, quite a few months before it was released. All he could talk about was how much torque it had! He planned to give the bicycle to one of his grandchildren.

Because we had other plans for the rest of the weekend and we weren't going by LAX on the return trip, Yale had to find another ride back to LAX on Saturday afternoon. We had discussed this ahead of time and because of the large number of attendees from the LA area we didn't think this would be a problem. Sure enough, Jon made a announcement before the raffle and a ride was easily procured that got Yale back to LAX before an evening flight back to OAK.

We bid him goodbye when the event had concluded. He thoroughly enjoyed himself that day!

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

Very sorry to hear this news. Yale and his wife traveled extensively in Europe and he made major contributions to this forum and to the Wiki, apparently for many years before I discovered Bimmerfest. He will be missed.

In November last year Jon Shafer announced a tour of the Port Hueneme VDC and lots of people signed up for it, including Yale. The only problem was that Yale had recently taken a tumble down a flight of stairs and wouldn't be able to drive from Berkeley. He still very much wanted to go and said that he would fly into LAX on Friday with his wife if someone could pick them up. Since my wife and I were driving up to Oxnard from San Diego on Friday evening, and driving practically right by LAX, we offered to pick them up. His wife became unavailable some time before the trip so he made the trip alone. We were quite surprised to see what condition was when in we got to LAX. Even though this happened several weeks earlier, he looked like he had just been mugged and required the use of a cane. I'm probably at least 10-15 years younger than him and I wouldn't have made the trip in that condition. We all stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Oxnard that night, met for breakfast in the morning, and he rode with us to the VDC.

He had a great time at the tour, bid on and won a BMW bicycle that was donated by the VDC, all so he could drive the new Active-E which was part of the prize, quite a few months before it was released. All he could talk about was how much torque it had! He planned to give the bicycle to one of his grandchildren.

Because we had other plans for the rest of the weekend and we weren't going by LAX on the return trip, Yale had to find another ride back to LAX on Saturday afternoon. We had discussed this ahead of time and because of the large number of attendees from the LA area we didn't think this would be a problem. Sure enough, Jon made a announcement before the raffle and a ride was easily procured that got Yale back to LAX before an evening flight back to OAK.

We bid him goodbye when the event had concluded. He thoroughly enjoyed himself that day!

He is the one who get a bicycle and one "free" ticket from Chief of Police.
RIP B-Y!

b-y´s Bimmerfest profile is here

Threads started by b-y are here.

This is terrible news. Thank you for letting us know.

Like many here I never had the privilege of meeting b-y in person but could tell through the narrow keyhole of bimmerfest that he was a quality gent. I always found his posts informative and steady. Never inflammatory. Always accurate and careful as befitted his profession.

Bimmerfest will be a smaller place without him. RIP.

Frank.

I am profoundly saddened by this news. He was a great 'fester and a very nice guy. I first met B-Y when I offered a spare "Gumby" clock up for grabs here years ago. Well, he was the first to respond so he got the clock. In the process of sorting out the details, we had a nice conversation about BMWs, northern California (used to live there) and Berkeley (sister works there). R.I.P. Indeed.

I remember the VPC tour thread and being jealous that it was on the opposite coast. I also remember that he won a get out of a speeding ticket courtesy card with it.

He was a good man, and will be missed. RIP Yale.

RIP Yale. I always enjoyed your posts here.

Rip.

You'll be missed old friend.

Sad news indeed. RIP old friend.

RIP, our thoughts and prayers are with your friends and family.

Your insights will be missed.

Very sad news. RIP B-Y.

RIP, B-Y. Your insight and kindness will be sorely missed.

R.I.P. b-y. Because of your recomendations and attention I got to visit Meran/Merano.
That stop was done because of your posts and Wiki article on Merano.

Originally Posted by odiesback

That stop was done because of your posts and Wiki article on Merano.

Which reminds me, the current and vastly improved organization of the wiki - not to mention a lot of its content - are all thanks to b-y, who spent countless hours on it. We had countless e-mails going back and forth as he pondered a point or sentence or how to order and describe the sections.

Perhaps we should rename the wiki after him?... after pondering this for 30 seconds, I have dedicated the wiki in his memory.

Sorry to see you go, b-y. I hope they still have a BMW or two (in Estoril Blue?) wherever you are.

Originally Posted by JSpira

Which reminds me, the current and vastly improved organization of the wiki - not to mention a lot of its content - are all thanks to b-y, who spent countless hours on it. We had countless e-mails going back and forth as he pondered a point or sentence or how to order and describe the sections.

Perhaps we should rename the wiki after him?... after pondering this for 30 seconds, I have dedicated the wiki in his memory.

Great idea Spira. I really like it, and think it would make him smile.

Originally Posted by JSpira

Perhaps we should rename the wiki after him?... after pondering this for 30 seconds, I have dedicated the wiki in his memory.

Like

Rest well

Very sad news.
You will be missed...

Like Tom, I was delighted to get to meet Yale at the VPC Tour last Fall. I was even happier that he seemed to have been looking forward to meeting me as well. A real gentleman who will be missed. I appreciate Jonathan dedicating the Wiki to his memory.