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Ralph and Terry Kovel changed the antiques world when husband and wife brought collecting to the masses through their educational, entertaining publishing pursuits. Many thousands are now mourning Ralph's passing last week.

The Kovels brought the thrill of the hunt to ordinary folks, removing the perception of snootiness from the antiques world. The couple were tireless in their writing and publishing endeavors and were quick to adapt to new mediums, feeling as comfortable with television and Internet as with books and articles.

Hundreds of readers and fans expressed sympathy on the Kovels' blog. The comments are a tribute to both Ralph and Terry, and demonstrate the tangible impact the pair had on many lives.

In addition to his educational, writing and publishing accomplishments, Ralph Kovel was also a businessman. In the late 1970s, he purchased a small Cleveland company called Sar-A-Lee. The company was sold in 1989 to Sara Lee Corporation, where he continued as Senior Vice-President of Sara Lee Coffee and Tea's Foods Division until 2000. He never retired. He was president of U.S. Brands, Inc., a Beachwood-based direct marketing firm, and president of Lucayan Aquaculture, a shrimp farm in the Bahamas.

But Ralph was best known for his passion for collecting that blossomed into a business in the early 1950s, when he came up with the idea of publishing a book that indexed antiques by the factory-specific marks found on the bottom of the pottery. He and Terry became nationally known with the publication of their first book, Dictionary of Marks: Pottery & Porcelain, published in 1953. The book led to a weekly question-and-answer column, "Kovels: Antiques & Collecting," syndicated in 1954, which still runs in more than 150 newspapers. It was also the first of 97 books that the couple would co-author.

Ralph and Terry Kovel were featured in their own television series on public television, the Discovery Channel and, most recently, on HGTV (Home and Garden Television Network). They wrote columns for Forbes Magazine and House Beautiful. Their articles have appeared in Family Circle, Woman's Day, Redbook, Town and Country, Giftware News and many antiques-related publications. They contributed the "Art, Antiques and Collections: Collectibles" section for Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year and were once the prize for a Publishers' Clearing House contest.

Their best-known book, Kovels' Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide, has been published annually since 1968. The 2009 edition was just released. In 1974 the couple began to publish a monthly newsletter, Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles. Their subscription-based newsletter has over 50,000 subscribers and is available in a digital version on the website, Kovels.com, which is visited by over a quarter of a million readers each month.

Ralph Kovel served on the boards of trustees of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Western Reserve Historical Society, and Public Broadcasting stations WVIZ-TV and WCPN-NPR. He won numerous awards for his public service and two Cleveland Emmys for his television work.

He will be missed.

A note on the Kovel website states, "Our website, all of our publications, and our love of antiques will carry on - with the help of Terry Kovel, Kim Kovel, Lee Kovel and the rest of the Kovel staff."

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About the author:

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.

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