01/08/2026
There are evenings that never truly end.
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This photograph was taken in 2014 during an IFFPSS World Congress.
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What followed was one of those unforgettable nights that stretched into the early hours, listening to Bob Simons.
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Bob was a remarkable storyteller.
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He had the rare gift of making history come alive. Through his memories, the pioneers of American rhinoplasty—Goldman, Diamond, Cottle, Anderson, and so many other extraordinary figures—were no longer names in textbooks, but real people, with their vision, their struggles, their triumphs, and even their contradictions.
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He spoke of surgeons who devoted their entire lives to mastering their craft, and of those exceptional few who also became true leaders: people able to imagine a future that did not yet exist and inspire others to build it.
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From him, I learned that genuine leadership is born from an unwavering passion for one’s profession and from the ability to see beyond the present.
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Bob and I also shared a deep passion for endonasal rhinoplasty.
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Over the years, he generously shared technical insights and surgical pearls that became part of my own practice.
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His wisdom did not end with me; it has quietly reached every patient who has benefited from those lessons.
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Looking back, I realize that our conversations were never only about rhinoplasty.
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They were about curiosity.
About excellence.
About mentorship.
About friendship.
And about the responsibility each generation has to pass knowledge on to the next.
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Those of us who had the privilege of knowing him feel poorer today, yet profoundly grateful to have spent part of our professional lives standing on the shoulders of a giant.
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Sit tibi terra levis, Bobby.
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