Our RFF family lost a great friend this week. I am so very saddened to say that Apskip died suddenly on Monday June 10.
Apskip joined RFF Dec 21, 2006. He was a stickler for accuracy, a passionate traveler, and a true Amazing Race fan. He had a near encyclopedic memory of TAR facts. He quickly became known for his geographical expertise and his "amazing" gift for tracking even the most complicated flight data for TAR detecting. He could always be relied on to drop everything to help us in our searches for the best possible TAR routes and transportation. Many a location was discovered because of his gift for spotting a possible connection between legs. He made an enormous contribution at RFF and his passing will leave a great hole here.
Who was the man behind the "Apskip"? Apskip was in real life,
Arthur E. Perkins Jr. He graduated from MIT with a BS in Economics, and then from the MIT Sloan School of Management with an MS in Management. He had a long career in Management and had experience in both the restaurant business and the travel industry.
He was a well known Reality TV writer and the author of several books. His best known were the 2 Amazing Race books:
"Circumnavigating the Globe: Amazing Race 10 to 14 and Amazing Race Asia 1 to 3" and
"Circumnavigating the Globe 2: Amazing Race 15-19, Amazing Race Asia 4, Amazing Race Australia: Amazing Race 15 - 19, Amazing Race Asia 4, Amazing Race Australia 1". All are available on
Amazon.
He was also the author of "Chef Wars: Hell's Kitchen" and "Chef Wars: Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Top Chef-Just Desserts". He did many recaps of Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef and The Apprentice.
He was a singer, very active in his church, and a proud husband and father. But to many of us here, he was just our own "Apskip" and his friendship and contributions to RFF will be greatly missed.
I know you all join me in extending our most heartfelt sympathy to his wife and children. Please feel free to share your memories here as well!
This was taken at Apskip's first TARcon: