Andrew Vik
Tampa, Fl., U.S.A.
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Kevin:
 
I, for one, would like to thank you for the thankless task of writing shell
books. Upon my return from Australia last August, I found my library to be
seriously lacking in Australian references. I soon purchased your two
Australian bivalve volumes. They weren't cheap, but what a great investment
they are! I collected around Sydney, Adelaide, and Cairns, and I have been
able to ID all of my Aussie pelecypods with your wonderfully illustrated
books. Thank you very much for spending the time it took to create these
definitive works.
 
Yours,
          Andrew
 
Kevin Lamprell wrote:
 
> As an unpaid amateur and after 35 years of unfunded study, which has
> culminated in the production in 4 books, 3 book chapters and 15 refereed
> papers in which 98 families are discussed and 87 new species are
> described. I, with my co-authors have for the first time brought to
> those who care some 1600 species many of which have not previously been
> available or even known to most collectors. I would be extremely upset
> if my work or photographs were used without acknowledgment and I would
> fully support my publishers if they decided an action was warranted for
> any unauthorized use.
> These works are published  in the knowledge that they are for very
> selective use without much hope of financial return and I am extremely
> grateful to those publishers for their effort and gamble in publishing
> them. The return would be much greater had I chosen to write about the
> sex lives of politicians or some such erotic subject.
> God forbid the day when printed books are not available and we have to
> resort to the complexities and problems (that I have anyway) of CDs and
> computors.
>
> Kev Lamprell