Memorial articles for members of FlyerTalk have quietly ceased here at The Gate With Brian Cohen — but this article about Dovster is the second of two exceptions to that policy for Memorial Day 2026, with the first exception that was published in an article earlier today pertaining to the loss of Cholula.
In Memoriam: Dovster
“That post was made in early October, 2023. As it turned out, my kibbutz was evacuated before Halloween, and remained evacuated in October, 2004. Those 50 bags of toys and candy, stayed in my house and most of the goodies in the bags were chocolate bars and individually-wrapped chocolate cakes (like Kinder). This year, I kept the bags and the toys but threw out the chocolates as I have no desire to poison 50 children by giving them out-dated chocolate to munch on. As in the past, I will get 40 Trick or Treaters between the ages of 6 and 12 from the kibbutz and 10 more who are the children of friends from neighboring Arab towns. However, I learned my lesson and will wait until the last week of October before buying the chocolates — just in case things re-ignite in the North before Halloween.” is what FlyerTalk member Dovster posted in the CommunityBuzz forum on Thursday, September 5, 2025 at 6:03 in the evening Eastern Daylight Time pertaining to the latest that was going on pertaining to the war in Israel — and that became the last time he posted on FlyerTalk.
This last quote epitomized who the Dovster was as a person: incredibly generous and caring; but also deeply interested in his adopted country of Israel and debating politics and current events worldwide. He did not judge people by the color of their skin or their nationalities or their religious beliefs. He was an intelligent and unique person who formed numerous genuine and lasting friendships across very unlikely divides — both political and spiritual — over the years.
As one example of his generosity, Dov gave my son a gift: a board game of Monopoly from Israel that was in Hebrew.
Dovster — whose real name is Don Ben Galil but was not his birth name when he was born in New York — passed away in Israel sometime in November of 2025 just shy of his eightieth birthday, which would have been on December 11; and this discussion on FlyerTalk is dedicated to his memory. The cause of death had not been publicly disclosed at the time this article was written.
Having first joined FlyerTalk as a member on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 — approximately seven months after I joined FlyerTalk as a member — the Dovster prolifically posted content a total of 60,201 times and participated in a variety of forums. His last activity on FlyerTalk was on Wednesday, November 19, 2025 at 12:37 in the morning Eastern Standard Time. As with Cholula, Dov was very devoted and incorporated in the FlyerTalk community — but in a completely different way. He is survived by his two adult children and a granddaughter.
I knew Dov fairly well, as he, FlyerTalk member Cholula, and I were considered the “triumvirate” of sorts on FlyerTalk back in the early 2000s when we all joined as new members of FlyerTalk within months of each other — especially in the Delta Air Lines | SkyMiles forum. We gave the moderators of the Delta SkyMiles forum a difficult time — and that was no different when I became a moderator of that forum. We were such troublemakers — but in a completely harmless manner. Did we have fun!
Dov attended many FlyerTalk events around the world — including The 2010 Second Annual Delta Air Lines FlyerTalk Event — October 21-24, 2010, which I co-organized…
…but he hosted many multiple gatherings of FlyerTalk members of what he called affectionately called meets in such places that included but were not limited to:
- South Florida, as they were centered around visiting his mother on his birthday. In fact, I met Dov for the first time at the very first of a series of several of these meets greater than 22 years ago on Friday, May 14, 2004.
- New York for Chanukah — typically at either a Kosher delicatessen or a traditional Jewish style delicatessen.
- Milan or Lugano, as that was where the woman he called his “Used Italian Girlfriend” or “UIG” resided. He had nicknames for almost everyone in his life.
- Atlanta, as that was a stopping point to such destinations in the United States as Las Vegas.
The most notable meet that he co-hosted with FlyerTalk member BEYFlyer was the day that FlyerTalk made history for Israel and Lebanon — or, at least, should have… on Friday, October 26, 2007, which occurred in Boca Raton in Florida. They sat in two white folding chairs on the makeshift stage and quietly talked in front of everyone who attended as they were finishing dinner. In fewer than eight minutes — I could be mistaken; but my memory recalls seven minutes and 30 seconds — they shook hands; and then they explained to attendees the specific points of the resolution to sort out the differences between Israel and Lebanon to which they agreed.
Dov eventually stopped visiting the United States, as he could no longer stand being in an enclosed long metal tube for so many consecutive hours. He eventually stopped traveling altogether due to his declining health.
His sense of humor was rather warped — but it was intellectual; and it caused one to think. He also had an amazing way with using words. One can get a good sense of both his satirical razor sharp wit and his love of writing and telling stories in a book he authored under the pseudonym of Josh Wilde called Wilde Is The Joker: Gambling Humor and Satires, which encompassed his passions for both travel and gambling. In fact, he had an amazing lucky streak at the poker table which funded much of his travels over the years.
Dov enjoyed his guilty pleasures: eating barbecue and chocolate cake with a Diet Coke as he smoked cigarettes — even when he had a bad cough or was otherwise not feeling well. He eschewed most foods that were red or green — think most vegetables and fruits — and “squiggly things from the sea”.
I have wanted to visit him at his home on a kibbutz in Yiron in Israel, which never came to fruition. I regret not visiting him.
Final Boarding Call
I first received the news about Dov while I was traveling on my way to Antarctica. Despite feeling the euphoria of embarking on what I considered to be the trip of a lifetime for me, learning of his passing hit me like a ton of bricks.
Dov was a complex and opinionated person who had a huge yet dynamic personality that was larger than life itself and contributed a significant amount of that personality to FlyerTalk. He was both a legend in his own mind as well as a legend on FlyerTalk — and those are two completely different things. He portrayed himself as a lecherous person on FlyerTalk — the woman of his dreams was the fictitious tall, naturally blonde Japanese nun and nymphomaniac known as Sister Mary Bambi Takamoto — but was quite respectful of women in real life. He was very political and prolific from having served in the military and also being a reporter in the media. His ideologies were controversial but thoughtful. Even his adversaries on FlyerTalk genuinely mourn his passing — likely due to his humanity. He was a mensch in the truest sense of that Yiddish word.
The loss of a FlyerTalk member is always sad for me. I really dislike having to mourn yet another fellow frequent flier — especially one whom I considered a friend. This one hit me hard, which is why I took so long to write this article. No matter what I write, I just do not feel like I have done his memory justice. The pain of his loss has never completely dissipated even after approximately six months — and it likely never will.
In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family, friends, and colleagues of Dov Ben Galil.
May you rest in peace, Dov. There is simply no one else like you, as you are indeed sorely missed…
All photographs ©2007 by Brian Cohen.
