Dear all,

Sorry to have to inform those who knew him that Jim Keeler died a few months
ago.

I only spoke with him on the phone on one occasion for about 2 hours about 3
years ago. He seemed like a very kind, considerate and knowledgeable guy. I
had contacted him because he put together the faunal list "Shells of the
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (and adjacent areas)."
Apparently he was known for other shell-related endeavors also.

Today I got a call from his widow in Tallahassee, FL, who had been married
to him for less than 2 years. My name was the first on the list of people
"who were interested in his collection." (How ironic that I knew him so
little).

Mrs. Keeler doesn't know anything about shells but she told me that Jim
wanted his collection to be donated to a museum. She says there are many
shells and vials of sand with micro shells from all over the world. And
there are data slips. It's likely to be a good collection.

Museum scientists who would like to contact Mrs. Keeler and arrange to take
a look please contact me off list ([log in to unmask]). Please be
patient, I'm closing on a house tomorrow.

David Kirsh
Durham, NC