by Niki Mattioli
If you knew Rob Coppolillo, you were standing on the sunny side of life. Full of passion for everything important to him - family, friends, writing, biking, mountain sports, guiding, his Italian heritage, and so much more - he did everything 100% and never held back. He and I had in common our Italian heritage, Italian fathers who were Doctors and we were both obsessed with pizza and dance music. I met him back in the publishing days in Boulder when I was at Sports & Fitness Publishing in the ‘90s and he was establishing himself as a writing legend. I would reach out after Coachella each year and give him the names of new and upcoming DJ acts he had to check out. We always discussed pizza, because frankly you can say alot about the ins and outs of the crust, the sauce and the toppings. I will never forget the kindness of Rebecca and Rob during my cancer diagnosis in 2008 bringing me basil pesto, love and support.
Rob, you will be forever in our hearts.
Rebecca, sending you love and strength.