[LMB] OT: Hank Reinhardt has passed away.

[Marty L. Adkins]

from the ASFS mailing-list:


Just in case you all had not heard:

Following a long illness, swordmaster extraordinaire Hank Reinhardt
passed away on October 30th at about 11:15am. A recent photo of Hank
with his wife, Baen publisher Toni Weisskopf Reinhardt, is here:
<http://tinyurl.com/27b2zy>http://tinyurl.com/27b2zy

Hank had been a serious student of arms and armor for about 50
years. The first books he read were tales of King Arthur and at the
age of 6 he was drawing knights and castles. At age 16 he started
haunting libraries for books on arms and armor and started a tentative
collection, which began with a few exotic knives such as the kukri and
the jambiya.

Before he was inducted in the U.S. Army at age 22, he helped found
the first science fiction club in Atlanta, ASFO. While Hank was
stationed in Germany he was able to visit many of the museums in
Europe, and this inflamed his interest in arms and armor even more. It
also allowed him to collect on a serious level and expand into
European swords and polearms.

Over the years, his study and collection of weapons continued, and
in 1985, along with Bill Adams, he started a mail order company by the
name of Museum Replicas, Ltd. The company was an immediate success,
doing almost one million in sales the first year. Now owned by
Windlass Arms, Hank has been a consultant for Museum Replicas for many
years.

Hank had visited most all of the major museums in Europe, and had
made replicas for the Tower of London, the Cleveland Museum of Art and
the Gotland Fornsal Museum.

He was the founder of the Historical Armed Combat Association, a
group of students interested in learning the way the sword was
actually used. While living in Birmingham, Alabama, he was also one of
the founders of its first science fiction club, BSFC.

In his study of the sword he had done a (very) little
blacksmithing, some mail making, and a great deal of practical
testing. These tests consist of observing the actual cutting power of
swords when opposed to armor of mail, plate, leather, etc. His
interest had led him to areas that had not been explored in depth,
such as testing the type of metal used in swords and how this affects
the use of the weapon (soft iron cannot be used in the same manner as
hard steel, for example).

Hank had written numerous articles on swords and knives, and was in
the process of writing a book on the use of the sword. He has two
videos out with Paladin Press on the sword, and was an occasional
columnist for Blade magazine on swords in the movies, exotic knives,
swords and other topics. Through his various activities he had been
instrumental in increasing the popularity of arms and armor in
mainstream America.

Let the hosts of Valhalla raise their cups. The Wolf Lord is coming!

Regina Kirby  :-(

and my reply:

Thank you for sharing the sad news & for the excellent obituary, Regina.

It should also be remembered that he edited an anthology with Gerald 
Page called _Heroic Fantasy_.  It was published [by DAW, ironically 
enough] in 1979 & had stories by:  F. Paul Wilson, Manly Wade 
Wellman, Andre Norton, Charles Saunders, Tanith Lee, E.C. Tubb, 
Adrian Cole, Galad Elflandsson, H Warner Munn, Gerald Page, Darrell 
Schweitzer, A.E. Silas and Don Walsh.

We just saw him at the Nasfic & at DragonCon.  Yeah, there was an 
oxygen tank, & he had to stop to breathe occasionally, but he was as 
roistering and boisterous as ever.  It's hard to believe he's gone.

Jerrie