Sad news. He was always generous sharing his knowledge.

A gentleman gone too soon. :(

This is terrible news. I was a friend and he gave me as a present an autographed copy of his last Book. R.I.P. Stu, they don't make them like you anymore.

Thank you, IMDonehere.

Social media is a crazy thing. I never met Stu. I never talked to Stu. I never emailed Stu. We probably exchanged each other on 40 - 50 posts over all these years.

Yet I felt like I knew Stu, and today is so sad knowing he is no longer with us. He was uniquely gifted in the written word with a terrific sense of humor.

Oh, no, not another wonderful person gone. I did so enjoy him. So long, Stu. Thank you Imdonehere for relaying the news.

Please convey my condolences to his family and friends. He was a prince of a man.

I appreciate your sentiments, but it is an odd and ironic I say, you're welcome.

Very sorry to hear, have benefited extensively from his travel advice and experience.

Such sad news. I'm so sorry to hear this. He was very generous in sharing his passion for and knowledge of travel here on Fodors and he will be greatly missed. I never met him, but did enjoy exchanging some emails over the years.

My condolences to the family and his friends.

I so enjoyed reading his posts. Thank you for the photo, Nelson. He looks very much as I imagined him.

Very sorry to read of Stu's passing. He was a valued contributor to this forum and will be greatly missed. RIP, Stu, and thank you.

When I was in rehab last September, Stu called and it was a long conversation.

But not with me. I was so emotional I couldn't talk and my wife and Stu did all the talking.

My wife filled me in on Stu's concern for my health.

Never talked on the phone again, but many e-mails. Some with people that have been expelled from Fodor's.

I had posted his BD on Fodor's a few years ago, but he didn't want any future postings.

This person Stu, was a friend to anyone that wanted friendship.

Conferences to Stu's family. He was a true ,mensch. Very instrumental in helping us plan our Hungary trip. Very sweet man guided us tremendously and asked us later how we enjoyed trip.

I have passed along all the kind thoughts to his family who greatly appreciated all of them.

Just read this; thanks for letting us know. I first met him in Shanghai with his late wife Roz. Yes, a true mensch who will be missed.

There are special people who make Fodor's the meaningful, informative, sometimes humourous, forum that we all keep returning to. Stu Tower was one of them. He will be missed.

I have come back to this thread.
I was in Prague less than 2 weeks ago and went to visit the grave of Franz Kafka,Stu wrote in his book the Wayfarers of a fictional meeting of a couple of the characters with a young Kafka and I did discuss this with Stu.
I sat near the grave and had a chat with Kafka and hoped he was meeting up with my friend Stu and that the could talk about Prague and about writing................ I am sure they are.

Thank You unclegus ((F))

If Stu was there you must have been at cemetery all day listening to stories. Stu liked the fact that I took a huge rubber bug with me to Prague and put it on Kafka's tombstone for a photo.

Sorry to hear this. Thanks for topping the thread, unclegus, I missed it the first time around.

I missed it too. He was so knowledgeable and so nice, and such a long time poster. He really will be missed.

I was just going through the post for our upcoming Scotland trip, and Stu was on there a couple of times with suggestions. Hard to believe he's gone.

How sad...my condolences to his family. Stu was a wonderful contributor to fodors and a lovely man. He also sent me his book. These last years were difficult for him as he was unable to travel, but he still kept up with us and chimed in whenever he could. Sty will be missed.

I'm just seeing this news. I'm so sorry to hear it. Like Nikki upthread, I remember Stu coming to that Boston GTG for a reading from his book. He will definitely be missed here in Fodorville. My condolences to his family and to those who loved him.

Somehow I missed this thread when it was first posted. My condolences to Stu's family. I am sorry I didn't get to meet him personally, but I enjoyed his postings and appreciated the information he shared.

Will pass along your fond remembrances to his daughter.

This is so late, but I had no idea. Someone shared a link in another thread.

I was just thinking of Stu the other day and wondered how he was doing. I hadn't been on the Europe board for long while, our travels taking us to other parts for a few years now.

Stu and I had often exchanged emails and photos away from the forum and he was always such an enthusiastic traveller. And a truly nice man. He's the one that hopped topics and talked me into going to Morocco after we'd exhausted our shared notes on Romania trips. His love of the world was truly infectious. He will be very much missed.

Like CC, I just learned of Stu's passing this evening. His passing is a loss not only to Fodorville, but to literature and mankind - a true mench. Stu was one of a kind. We exchanged emails for awhile, but then slowly stopped over time. Stu was able to find the geographic coordinate of the village where my father was born when others could not, and to this day I thank him for that. He also sent me copies of his books and had hope of one of them being put on film. Read them, they are both excellent reads. The life of Branko that he describes eerily parallels that of DW's late great uncle Peretz, whose biography is one of those in the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. I always wondered if he had read the biography and used it as a model for his character, but never asked him.

Stu knew after returning from a trip that his wife was entering Alzheimer's land and spent the time until her death lovingly caring for her.

I too have just heard this sad news and instantly felt heartbroken..I've never met, exchanged emails or even interacted on a specific post on fodors with Stu but still he made an impression on me and I feel a loss for the community here and in general.

oh dear, I just heard this too.

So sorry for his family and friends; like Jen I never interacted with him personally but he was clearly a very vibrant and talented man who will be sorely missed.

Bad news---he will be missed.

Very sad to read this. I missed it first time round too.
There seems to be a lot of it happening on Fodor's at the moment...

I am so sorry to hear this sad news. My best wishes to his family.

I will send along your condolences to his family.

I'm just hearing now the sad news of the loss of Stu Tower. He was an enthusiastic traveler and his comments and insight added so much to our real-time extended trip report (Travelgirl's Trip Of A Lifetime) back in 2006.

Just a lovely man. And my son enjoyed reading The Wayfarers.

I hope he had a wonderful life.

Another just catching up with this sad news about Stu Tower.
He was such a generous & knowledgeable poster, I imagine e it must have been a joy to have known him.

My sincere belated condolences to his family & friends.

I was a previewer for Stu's last novel and he was a previewer for mine. We met in LA and NY and he was always full of stories and he could be crusty. We would have been grateful for the thoughts above as his attention turned to his legacy in his final years.

Gobsmacked!

Had no idea. I can remember looking at photos of Stuart and Roz when they were in Interlaken, Switzerland.

When the jig is up, it's up.

Thin

Yes stu was one of the most polite and helpful posters here - I especially remember he had wondrous photos of Interlaken, debunking the usual take that 'Interaken is worthless' and showing the city' rarely seen neat side and areas.