The passing of Barbara Ann Klein

[Gaijingai]

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Barbara Ann Klein. She was known early on with Bench Sumo as Babanoshuzan. Baba was one of the early pioneers of the sumo listserve with frequent postings. She and Asashoryu were the closest of friends. She occasionally popped in here at the Sumo Forum. I was Gai to her and she was Baba to me. When she was working and thus overseas for her work, we used to exchange emails each day when she was stuck in her hotel while waiting for the client to give her all the records she needed for examining. Once, in Bhutan, she was stuck in her hotel (a dump of a place) for an entire week by cold rain each day and the client not being too cooperative. The food was horrible, hardly had any Internet, and thus wiling away her time with me going back-and-forth on email, and having some real laughs online. It kept her sane, she said. 

[I am the Yokozuna]

Rest in peace. 

From time to time, I wonder what has happened with some of the members I used to read here but have disappeared in the last decade or so. She was one of them. 

[Jejima]

Barbara was an amazing host when I visited her in New York with another (non-sumo fan, but a Japanophile) friend on our road trip down the USA, about 12 or 13 years ago. She took us to an amazing sushi restaurant. The food was great, but her company was even better. 

[Athenayama]

I won't pretend I knew her, I didn't, but all these testimonials show how good a person she was so it makes me sad nevertheless. RIP

[John Gunning]

It would take forever to detail all the kindness Barbara showed and the help she gave down through the past couple of decades.

Her daughter told me the news a while back and even though she'd been sick for a long time it still came as a shock as she was so full of energy.

For those that didn't know her, Barbara was like a second mother to Asashoryu, and very close to the yokozuna right from when he was starting out in sumo.

I will really miss her and cherish the times we met in Tokyo, New York, Seoul and many other sumo stops both domestic and International.

 

 

[Naganoyama]

I worked with Barbara on Sumo Fan Magazine for a while and also on Le Monde du Sumo and we had a lot of laughs together.

RIP