On January 22, Bernie Knill, former chief editor of Material Handling Management, passed away after a brief illness. Bernie’s impact–not only on MHM but on the entire material handling community–is legendary, and it promises to live on for years to come.

Bernie began working for MHM in 1957 and continued to lead the magazine until he retired in 2000. However, even in retirement, Bernie remained active as a regular contributor to MHM.

All of Bernie’s successors (myself included) have learned from his uncommon passion, extraordinary talent and desire to make a difference in his industry. It’s extremely humbling to get the opportunity to oversee the same magazine that was so near and dear to Bernie’s heart.

But I didn’t know Bernie as well as many others did. I knew his reputation and his legacy, but I (unfortunately) never had the chance to get to know him personally and professionally. That’s why I believe a proper tribute can only be given by someone who worked closely with Bernie and had the opportunity to witness his passion coming to life each day.

In 1980, Bernie hired his eventual successor, Tom Andel, as assistant editor for Material Handling Engineering (now Material Handling Management). Tom later worked on other publications, but returned to MHE in 1998 as senior editor under Bernie. In 2000, Tom was promoted to chief editor of the newly named Material Handling Management upon Bernie’s retirement.

Tom has been covering material handling, transportation, distribution, manufacturing and supply chain management ever since. He is currently a columnist and blogger for Modern Materials Handling and a contributor to Logistics Management.

So, without further ado, I give the floor to Tom. These are his words:

“Bernie Knill played the typewriter like Mozart played a piano. Both composed masterpieces in their heads and both were the rock stars of their day. From the 1950s until the turn of the 21st century, Bernie rocked material handling, raising the seemingly mundane to high relevance for the readers of this magazine.

–When a software snafu crashed the newly built Denver International Airport’s baggage handling system, Bernie’s award-winning report to MHM readers extracted important lessons from the wreckage.

–When power-hungry state elevator inspectors coveted a piece of the material handling industry’s vertical reciprocating conveyor business, Bernie’s ten-year editorial onslaught made opera out of the ongoing bureaucratic melodrama. He became the voice of the material handling industry on the elevator issue, and those inspectors eventually cleaned up their acts. This freed VRC manufacturers from fighting this battle and enabled them to be strong enough for trade association representation under the Material Handling Industry of America’s banner.

–When lift truck operator training was a sometimes thing in workplaces across the country, Bernie worked with leaders in industry and government to spread the gospel about equipment-specific and site-specific powered industrial truck operator training. From that came OSHA’s PITOT standard, 29 CFR 190.178—and much safer workplaces.

In 1992, the Material Handling Industry honored Bernie for all these efforts with the Reed-Apple Award, the industry’s highest honor. That same year, the Material Handling Management Society presented him with the William T. Shirk Award for outstanding service and contributions to the industry.

Bernie Knill retired as MHM’s editorial leader in 2000, but he stayed active as a freelance journalist until health issues forced him to take it easier in recent years.

He leaves a legacy as a leader, a teacher, an artist and a mentor. Younger readers of this magazine may not know his name, but they’ll benefit from the results of his work. Those of us lucky enough to know all of those manifestations of Bernie will continue to pay his example forward.”

–Tom Andel, Bernie Knill successor