Mark your calendars for the 1998 Philadelphia Shell Show, organized by the
Philadelphia Shell Club, at the Academy of Natural Sciences, November 7-8,
10 am to 5 pm.
 
The show is the largest in the northeastern United States, with dealers and
exhibitors from all over the US. This year we are taking over the first
floor of the museum, so we have more room than ever before.
 
Saturday night of the show will feature a special lecture by Dr. Geerat
Vermeij, the famous evolutionary biologist, author of The Natural History of
Shells and of Privileged Hands, his fascinating autobiography. Dr. Vermeij
will speak on "A History of Housing: Reconstructing the past through the art
and science of seashells".
 
The lecture (Saturday 5:30 pm) and the following reception is $35 per person
($15 for lecture only) [RSVP to me]. Admission to the shell show is included
in the price of the lecture. Otherwise, admission to the show is $8.50 per
person, which is the price of admission to the Academy's natural history museum.
 
Lecture, reception, and shell show are complimentary to members of the
Philadelphia Shell Club, dealers, exhibitors and their spouses. It's not too
late to enter an exhibit in the show, if you want to take advantage of the
freebies for exhibitors. Contact me for information.
 
At the show we will be kicking off a million dollar endowment campaign for
malacology, as part of a larger campaign for biodiversity research and
collections at the Academy. This funding will helps us establish and
maintain initiatives for
 
A Global Encyclopedia of Mollusks on the Internet
A Center for Freshwater and Medical Malacology
Expeditions in areas of the world most threatened by habitat destruction.
 
This year's show promises to be a real celebration. I hope that all of you
will plan to be there. I promise all conch-l members attending our show for
the first time a behind-the-scenes tour of our collection (12 million
specimens strong), and a free copy of my book, The Encylopedia of Seashells.
And I promise the same to all first-time exhibitors.
 
Best wishes,
Gary
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Gary Rosenberg, Ph.D.                     [log in to unmask]
Malacology & Invertebrate Paleontology    gopher://erato.acnatsci.org
Academy of Natural Sciences               http://www.acnatsci.org
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway            Phone 215-299-1033
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1195 USA           Fax   215-299-1170