I too am greatly saddened by Cecelia's death.  She was something!  A
true celebrity, bigger and brighter than life. Shining with a constant
light! And such style! I feel greatly privileged to have known her, ever
since a visit to Louisville that she made with Tucker and Bill Clench
back in the 70's.

My favorite Cecelia memory is a Tucker memory too. We were staying with
them for a while, that same spring of their trip to Australia, when
Walter Sage acted as their caretaker in Melbourne and mailed out the
newly printed copies of the long awaited Standard Catalog of Seashells
while they were away. We went beach walking, the day before they left.
Cecelia and I wandered off together hunting angel wings in the muck. She
began telling me little stories about Tucker. She noted that angel wings
always reminded her of bridal finery, all the lace and tucks and
pleatings. Then she asked if she'd ever told me about Tucker's proposal.
(I bet there are others of you out there who have heard this! She did
love a good story as much as he did.)  She said he left a note on her
desk one day, asking her to marry him, and then added another note
pleading, "Please type!"  Then she did that uproarious laugh of hers and
said, "Don't you think that's a scream! Ever the author, he wanted a
secretary-typist too."   And she took the "job."

She said, "Lynn, you'll probably do his bio one day. You should have
that piece of Tuckerana and I'll send it to you!"  She did send me a
copy and I still have it. Not the proposal, of course, but the "Please
type" note, greatly scrunched and worn-looking.

There's a recent picture of Cecelia at

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/floridatoday/obituary.aspx?n=cecelia-abbott&pid=146296688

along with her obituary.

For the curious: does anyone know for certain whether her given name is
spelled "Cecelia" or "Cecilia" ?  I find it both ways, and was
vigorously corrected by both Walter and Tucker, when I spelled it
Cecelia in articles for our (Louisville) club newsletter, The Littorina.
I was told that it was "Cecilia". Tucker even phoned me about it. But in
Tucker's Register of American Malacologists and in the above obituary,
it was "Cecelia," as seemed to be her signature on some of her  numerous
chatty notes, while others had the "e" "dotted. Subsequently and
satisfactorily confused, I've always been afraid I'd do it wrong.

Lynn Scheu
Louisville, KY

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