Dear Mr. Rob,
I remember Vinny, too. And his humor. He is missed.
As for his influence on me? When I first became interested in Reiki, the first thing I read was that dratted Diane Stein book, along with others. It was on Vinny's site, that I discovered that so much, er, uh, -stuff, I had read was not Reiki at all. Reiki Pure and Simple really lived up to its name. It gave me a much better perspective on what Reiki really is.
Rock On!
Roxy