Odd how things get out of hand sometimes!   One must be careful not to
associate, even on an obscure tangent, people of known GOOD reputation
with folks of dubious reputation - there is a possibility that the
innocent person could be harmed in some way, by mix-ups in people's
memory, misreadings, etc., - or it could possibly be taken as a slight
or attack of some sort.  When i initally wrote that the Goldberg whose
address i lost was probably not related to a "famous" Goldberg (because
if he was, why would he be looking for other shell-suppliers in the same
part of the world??), i thought this was innocent enough and even a
compliment to Richard Goldberg, who has is an extremely well-known shell
dealer, with a very excellent reputation in all regards - "famous" in
quite a good sense!!.  Then, people began all the warnings against shady
characters, and Richard sent me a short, friendly note which i thought
was "cryptic" in some way, which i listed amongst the responses i had
recieved - unfortunately in close proximity to a reference to a "fast
Eddie" who has become a major thread these past few days.  So, if anyone
did indeed associate Richard Goldberg, whom i can personally recommend
as being as honest as they come, with any "bad apples", i do apologise
for this.

Ironically, when i coined the phrase "Fast Eddie", i wasn't even
referring to Mr. E.T. , whom i did not personally disparage, by the way,
but to the OTHER chap who was also the subject of a warning on the list,
whose name i thought was Eddie, but didn't actually check.  The ET
warning was private, and if anyone can recall the message that set off
this whole conflagration, i referred to three people - him, "Quick
Edward", and someone else whose name i forgot, so obviously they were
not the same person.  But,   i think that refering to people by initials
or nicknames is probably not a good thing to do either, since it can
also lead to confusion.  SO, i also apologise to everyone named Edward
in the Shell world - and there are a fair few of them, and i have heard
nothing but good things about all but one of them - Mr. Theiler.

I guess this episode can be taken as a cautionary tale, with the moral
"when you refer to someone in from of 400 people, it is wise to make
sure you identify them properly - whether they are "famous" (in a good
sense!), "infamous", or otherwise".

60 here too Frank (who is also well-known in the very best of senses!!),

Ross.

--
Ross Mayhew: Schooner Specimen Shells:
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