The shell bug bit me when I was 13.  My parents took my sister and I on a
vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  Early in the week while walking the beach I
found Coquinas (Donax variabilis) burrowing in the sand.  I was fascinated by
the colors.  A little further down the beach I found a crabbed King's Crown
(Melongena corona form johnstonei).   I was totally enthralled.  The next day,
my dad and I found while snorkeling live Lettered Olives (Oliva sayana) and
Augers (Terebra cinerea).  That same week my parents bought me a copy of
Seashells of the World by R. Tucker Abbott.  Originally I just wanted to be a
marine biologist.  I just loved the sea and everything in it.  While attending
a summer high school class at Dauphin Island Sea Lab I chose for my class
project to survey the mollusks found in the vicinity of Dauphin Island.  That
summer I collected 50+ species.  Now 25 years later I find myself fortunate to
be paid for something that I consider play.  I collect worldwide specimens
from marine, freshwater, terrestrial, fossil and archaeological origins.  I am
especially focused on mollusks of Alabama (marine=550+species, freshwater=ca.
500 species, terrestrial=150 species, fossil=?species - Andy help here, how
many fossil species are known from our state).  My collection is now the
research collection for my company and numbers at 10,000+ lots and is growing
faster than I can curate it.
 
Doug Shelton
Alabama Malacological Research Center
2370-G Hillcrest Road #236
Mobile, Alabama   36695    U.S.A.