Dear Philip, Allen, Rich, Winston, et al.,

I hasten to second Winston's nomination of The best of the Nautilus.  Among the
chronicles there is none more engaging than Remington, P. S. and W. J. Clench,
1925.  Vagabonding for shells. The Nautilus 38(4): 127-143. April. (pp. 136-152
of the anthology).  The title tells it all!  Having been in the field with the
junior author (1970's), I feel and keen sense of kinship and continuity of this
marvelous enterprise we are so fortunate to carry forth.

Rich, I think Veronica Parker Johns became a shellshopkeeper through the
offices of her uncle, Mr. MacArthur, who operated the shop from (at least) the
early 1950's to 1964, when Veronica assumed management (and emended the name of
the proprietary from "The MacArthur Shop" to "Seashells Unlimited").  I thought
it was just south of 39th St.   Philip Hano ran a contemporary shell shop about
40 blocks north for at least 1964-1966.  Maybe Veronica got his stock after he
died or retired.  In any event visits to the two shops kept me out of the
Cornell Medical College library for large and frequent respites.

Harry


At 04:22 PM 9/5/2002 , you wrote:
>Allen and Philip,
>
>The Veronica you refer to is Veronica Parker Johns (1907-1988) a
>fiction/mystery writer who was an activist in the early Mystery Writers of
>America, but is best known generally for stories in these publications:
>
>FICTON:
>- Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine Feb ’57: The Cannibal Oxen (nv)
>- Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Stories that Go Bump in the Night -- The
>Gentleman Caller, 1955.
>- the "Webster Flagg" novel series: Murder By Day [1953] and Servent
>Problems [1958].
>- Other Mystery/Detective Novels: Hush, Gabriel! [1941]; Shady Doings
>[1941]; The Singing Widow [1941].
>- Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: Bezique of Death, #85, December, 1950.
>(reprint); Green Goose Chase, #227, October, 1962; Mr Hyde-de-Ho’. Ellery
>Queen’s Awards - 11th Series, 1956.
>
>And Veronica's conchological classic:
>
>- She Sells Sea Shells, a 1968 autobiography. Veronica was the grand dames
>of conchology in New York City, where she was the proprietor of Seashells
>Unlimited, a small shell shop on Third Avenue and 36th Street in Manhattan
>between 1964 and her passing in 1988.  Who better to write about the
>mysteries of conchology than from the point of view of a mystery writer.
>Veronica tells about her transition from mystery writer to shell shop
>proprietor and her many experiences in that role. I believe that she
>originally purchased the Hano Shell Show in uptown Manhattan and moved it
>lock, stock, and barrel to Third Avenue in 1964.  Veronica was also one of
>the original handful of Conchologists of America members.
>
>Rich
>***********************
>worldwideconchology.com
>***********************
>
>Original Message:
>-----------------
>From: Allen Aigen [log in to unmask]
>Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 19:35:10 GMT
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Shelling narratives
>
>
>A shell dealer in NYC wrote an autobiography perhaps 10-15 years ago.  I
>can't remember the author beyond Veronica, but the name was "She Sells Sea
>Shells".  Probably someone else will fill in the blanks.
>Allen Aigen
>[log in to unmask]
>
>One of the best books in my library is "The Best of the Nautilus", a
>collection of writings from the early 1900's edited by R.Tucker Abbott.
>It is full of wonderful stories of collecting - marine, terrestrial, and
>freshwater shells.
>
>Winston Barney
>Fort Worth, TX
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Philip Zaleski
>  To: [log in to unmask]
>  Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 12:02 PM
>  Subject: Shelling narratives
>
>
>  Hello Everyone,
>
>  I'm new to this list so my apologies if this question has been addressed
>in the past. I'm trying to compile a list of shelling narratives, that is,
>first-person accounts (in book form) of seashell collecting. I'm aware of
>the following material:
>
>  1) Combing the South Seas by Joseph Verco
>  2) Various books by Kathleen Johnstone, which contain many aubiographical
>reminiscences
>  3) Some of the essays in Seashell Parade by A. Gordon Melvin
>  4) Merrill Moore's "A Note on Conchology"
>  5) Martha Hodgson's The Spell of the Shell
>
>  Any others anybody can steer me toward? Thanks!
>
>  Philip Zaleski

Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, FL 32204
USA
Voice:  904-384-6419
Fax:  904-388-6750
<[log in to unmask]>
Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
www.jaxshells.org

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