PORTLAND – Robert Sharples Niss, 56, passed away peacefully Thursday, Aug. 4, at Maine Medical Center after battling courageously for years over a debilitating illness.

Born in Belfast, March 23, 1949, and raised in Bath, he attended schools there until completing his education at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., and graduating with a degree in journalism in 1971 from Colorado College.

He came from a long line of writers and historians, among them Maine’s own Samuel Eliot Morison and Jacob Abbot. He had been putting pen to paper since the age of 8 for his summer camp’s weekly newspaper.

For several years he wrote fondly for the Back Forty, a column in the Maine Sunday Telegram. A tremendous outlet for his most beloved pastime, camping, paddling, hiking, etc. Numerous awards were bestowed upon him from the AP, UPI, FBI and more.

We have lost someone special who no longer feels the pain of a disease that robbed him years of his life.

He is survived by his father, William U. Niss; two sons, Joshua C. Niss and Matthew J.R. Niss; a sister, Sarah Payson; several nieces, great-nieces and nephews; childhood friend, William T. Phinney; and many beloved friends and colleagues.

He was predeceased by his mother, Abby S. Niss.