L.B. Taylor Jr.

WILLIAMSBURG - L.B. (Bob) Taylor, Jr., of Williamsburg, the author of 50 non-fiction books, including 25 on Virginia ghosts, and over 300 national magazine articles, died Feb. 23, 2014. He was 81 years old. He is survived by his wife, Brenda Goens Taylor, his three children, Cindy Taylor of Great Falls, Virginia, Chris Taylor of Clearwater, Florida, and Tony Taylor of Williamsburg, Virginia, and by three grandchildren, Emily Willis, Andrew Myers, and Ryan Taylor. Taylor was a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, and a Journalism graduate of Florida State University. Following service in the U.S. Army in Heidelberg, Germany, he spent ten years as a public information officer for NASA and aerospace contractors at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida where he covered all space flight launches from America's first satellite, Explorer I, in 1958, through the manned missions of Mercury and Gemini, and later reported on the Apollo 11 first manned lunar landing. During his period he served as editor of Spaceport News, NASA's newspaper, for five years. Taylor was a magazine editor for North American Aviation and Rockwell International in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh before moving to Williamsburg in 1974 as public affairs director of BASF Corporation. He retired in 1993. Throughout his career, Taylor also was a free lance writer. His articles appeared in such publications as The Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, and True Magazine. His first book "Pieces of Eight, Recovering the Riches of a Lost Spanish Treasure Fleet," was published in 1966 in several languages and is still in print. Other books included America's space programs, a history of Cape Canaveral, and various other subjects ranging from electronic surveillance to hostage taking. In 1983, Taylor published "The Ghosts of Williamsburg," which has sold more than 150,000 copies and led to the origination of the city's popular ghost tours which have entertained hundreds of thousands of visitors. This book was followed by 24 others, including a 13 volume series on Virginia ghosts. In 2007, Taylor was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Virginia's Writer's Club. Over the past 30-plus years he gave hundreds of presentations on the commonwealth's paranormal phenomena to schools, libraries and other organizations all across Virginia, and received many honorary awards. A visitation for family and friends will be held on Saturday, April 26 from 2pm-4pm at Nelsen Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains Rd., Williamsburg, Virginia. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Heritage Humane Society, to your local library or to a charity of your choice. Online condolences may be offered at www.nelsencares.com.