B. Robert Anderson, retired businessman, prolific writer, editor, and adjunct professor, has died at 96

B. Robert Anderson, 96, of Linwood, retired businessman and management consultant, prolific writer, editor, and adjunct professor, died Thursday, June 15, of pancreatic cancer at Royal Suites Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Galloway Township.

Mr. Anderson grew up in West Philadelphia and Atlantic City during the Great Depression and responded to his childhood challenges by graduating from Temple University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, working with his brother as an executive at Anderson Wholesale Grocery Co., and founding the Anderson Associates management consulting firm.

He also served as executive editor at Institutional Distribution magazine and published nine books and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles about business, education, health, and other topics.

His older brother, Milton, founded Anderson Wholesale Grocery Co. in Atlantic City in 1948, and the brothers worked together for 22 years, providing food to restaurants, hospitals and other organizations in South Jersey. Mr. Anderson left the company in 1970 and established Anderson Associates, a business management consulting firm that listed New York-based Palmer Food Services, Pocono Produce Co. of East Stroudsburg, Pa., and Houston-based Sysco Corp. among its clients.

A lifelong writer, Mr. Anderson published textbooks, including 1977′s Professional Selling, half a dozen mystery novels set in Philadelphia, a book about school board membership for the New Jersey State Board of Education, and articles that appeared in Ebony and Reader’s Digest magazines, and other publications.

In the preface to the 2000 edition of Professional Selling, Mr. Anderson said: “A strong foundation in the primary skills of professional selling will lead to success and growth. These skills provide the initial building blocks to allow you to choose your own route to happiness.”

He also taught business management and marketing classes at Atlantic Community College, now Atlantic Cape Community College, and St. Joseph’s University from 1970 to 1975. “He was one of the most impressive men I have ever met,” a former student said in an online tribute.

Bennett Robert Antenson was born Nov. 6, 1926, in Philadelphia. He and his brother changed their last name to Anderson in the late 1940s after Milton founded his wholesale grocery company.

Mr. Anderson skipped a few grades in school and graduated from West Philadelphia High School in 1943. He joined the Navy during World War II and served in an officer’s training program in 1945 and 1946.

He studied writing under prominent English professor David Lambuth at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, attended Bates College in Maine and Drexel University, and graduated from Temple in the late 1940s after his discharge from the Navy. He met Joyce Sloan on a blind date and proposed on the second date, and they married in 1953.

They had sons Steven and David, and daughter Faith, and lived in Margate for decades. Mr. Anderson and his wife moved to Linwood in 1990. His wife died in April.

Away from work, Mr. Anderson served as vice president of the Atlantic City chapter of B’nai B’rith, and for the Atlantic City Jewish Community Center. He was also a member of the New Jersey regional board of the Anti-Defamation League, and the Margate Board of Education.

He and his wife traveled to Europe often and especially enjoyed their time in Italy. He was a sharp dresser, liked to wear hats, and met often with longtime pals who called themselves Oysters Anonymous. “His wit and sense of humor were loved by everyone he met,” his family said in a tribute.

He shared household chores with his wife, made a mean pineapple upside-down cake, and spent lots of high-quality time with his children as they grew. He taught them about the stock market, offered business tips, and, instead of offering advice, “told stories and jokes that had underlying lessons, many from his own life experience,” his family said.

Mr. Anderson hosted barbecues for his grandchildren and wandered with them through bookstores. He stopped smoking when he was 40 and exercised daily until recently.

He and his wife, also a writer, delighted in meeting new readers as they sold their books on the Ocean City Boardwalk after he retired in 2003. He was disciplined, organized, and generous. He believed in equality and admired Hubert H. Humphrey, President Lyndon B. Johnson, and the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“His encouragement, meaningful stories, and funny jokes will be missed,” his family said. “He will remain an icon and a hero to his family and friends.”

In addition to his children, Mr. Anderson is survived by five grandchildren and other relatives. His brother died earlier.

Services were held June 20.