Hi Sarah, what a great idea for a very boreing weekend.
 
I was lucky enough to be born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. My dad
taught me very early on the fine art of fishing and I have always loved all
things to do with the sea. I especially loved the fishes. As a child I had jar
after jar of small fish in formeldehyde. My bedroom looked like a marine
laboratory. I would play with them for hours on end, taking each one down and
lovingly gaze at the creature within. Naturally shells were also a part of my
marine fascination. I would love to go out on the flats at low tide with
bucket and shovel in hand. I did not like to kill the fascinating animals, so
most of my finds escaped the boiling pot, however I certaily kept enough to
line a shelf on my book case and always managed to have extras to share with
visiting friends and family that came to Florida from the north every winter.
   When I was 7 my parents took me to the Florida Keys for two weeks. I was in
heaven. Here were all new and beautiful tropical fishes and totally different
shells. For several years we would go back for a week each summer.
   As I grew older somehow my interest in shells began to wane and my passion
for fishing grew by leaps and bounds. We still went to the keys, but in my
older youth my interest was strickly sport fishing, both back country and blue
water off shore.
   That pattern continued on into my adult life. I was a true "I'd rather be
fishing" type of individual. Many many years later, we won't go into just how
many, I happened to be Christmas shopping at the mall  when I passed a book
store. Low and behold, right there in the window was a copy of Len Hill's book
THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL SEASHELLS. Memories of my childhood and all those
beautiful shells I once loved flashed through my mind. I bought a copy and
rushed home to devour it. Now I knew that I must have some of these "most
beautiful seashells." I looked up shell dealers in the yellow pages of the
phone book and found THE SHELL STORE on St. Petersburg Beach. I hurried to the
given address and was amazed at all the beautiful shells here in one location.
It was here that I purchased my first shell, a Murex pecten. I was now
ofically a shell collector. I WAS HOOKED!!! The owner, Bob Lipe invited me to
a meeting of the local shell club, and a whole new world opened up for me. Bob
let me look at his books, showed me the AMERICAN CONCHOLOGIST and gave me an
application. I was now on my way  into a fascinating new hoby.
   In 1996, just under one year into my new found love, the St. Petersburg
Shell Club hosted the COA convention. Betty Lipe, Convention Chairperson, took
me under her wing and found ways I could help with the convention and I was in
paradise. That was a magical five days week for me. I acted as an assisting
guide for the field trips, and availed myself in any way possible to be a part
of this great event. You can imagine my reaction to my first bourse. The fires
were now burning and my passion for "the worlds most beautiful shells" was in
full power ahead.
   It was nearly four years ago that I purchased that first shell, my beloved
Murex pecten, from Bob. In those years my collection has grown from one shell
to about 400 and I look foreward to the addition of many more as time passses.
I went to Key West for a wonderful 4 days of shelling this past summer, and
plan to go to the Bahamas next year.
   This has been a rather long and rambeling story, but one I love to tell.
Thanks for the opportunity Sarah.
 
Martin E. Tremor, Jr.
St. Petersburg, Fl
USA