On a less intense note than our current threads, I want to mention the
accomplishment of one of our number, a long-time member of Conch-L, Art
Weil. Yes, yes, I know we all are aware that Art is working on an Eppie
book. But this is something altogether different. It's a little 100 page
paperback called _Shell Shocked! A Guide to Sane Shell Collecting_ and
was published in Rome, Italy this past July by another member oc Conch-L,
Maria Angioy and the publishing company she is affiiated with, Evolver slr.
I think I MIGHT have paid seven or eight dollars for it at the convention
in Orlando this past July, but have just recently gotten time to look into
it! (My copy is autographed! Thanks, Art!)
Art has put together this little book, in part, from columns he has written
for Hawaiian Shell News under the title "Conchyliorum Instructorum," and
it is, in Art's own words, " a shell primer." I loved his primer, so much
that I reread it, aloud to my friend and fellow shell collector Suzi
Rogers, who has MS and is visually handicapped to near blindness. She loved
it too -- any time we can combine our hobby and humor, we all seem to love
it! Too bad Suzi couldn't see the cute cartoons by John Wilson that
extend our perception of Artian humor.
If you are one of the admirers of Art's quirky brand of humor on Conch-L,
you are in for a treat. He's commonsensical, instructive, and helpful to
the max, with a lot of good information and a lot of good fun. And a lot of
helpful philosophies of shell ing you can adopt. If you don't like Art's
version of the funny bone, then read this at one sitting for an
innoculation to protect yourself from future doses. In either case, few of
you will read it without learning some stuff you didn't know about shell
collecting.
Chapters on trading, dealing with dealers, cleaning, beach collecting,
showing shells, specializing, shell clubs and more will keep you
entertained. A cartoon of Shelldom's most famous bridgetender is a bonus.
Sample it:
*********************
On the Aadvance of Shell Collecting:
8:45 a.m. Broome, Australia: Brandon Miller, a nine-year old kid who's
visiting his Aunt Jeptha, will get away from her and take a long walk down
the beach. Just as he turns for hime he will discover a shells. It will be
Conus eburneus Hwass, 1792. It will be pitted, sunbleached, and slightly
cracked. But it will be Brandon;s first shell. By the time Brandon gets
back to Aunt Jeptha, he will have picked up a Polinices melanostomus
(Gmelin, 1791), a Patelloida alticostata (Angas, 1865), and a Cypraea
limacina (Lamarck, 1810). Neither you nor I would have picked up any of
them. They are in lousy condition. Brandon will count them as the first
discoveries in his new hobby -- shell collecting.
At 11:15 EST a young lady will be walking on Fort Myers Beach in Florida.
She broke up with a young man last night who was an ill-suited suitor. This
morning she will kick sand and beached weeds and very idly pick up half a
sand dollar, broken pieces of several bivalves, one quite nice Angulate
Wentletrap, and several pretty coquinas. She will be hooked.
At 4:43 p.m. a 67-year old man will be walking on a Spanish beach. He
retired less than a week ago from his job as a welder in a shop that
repairs diesel engines. He doesn't know what to do with the rest of his
life. His foot kicks up a shell. He knows about shells. His brotehr used to
collect them. (We've got him!)
At 10:05 p.m. Uncle Joe Schlisser, life-long collector of shells, will die.
Everyone knows about Uncle Joe's collection. Pictures of his rare shells
have appeared in the best publications -- even Hawaiian Shell News. Uncle
Joe has willed his entire collection to his grandson, Willie. Willie is 12
and couldn;t care less. Uncle Joe's wife, Neddie, will put the whole thing
in the basement with plastic wrap over all the cases. Aunt Neddie will hand
on for years in spite of Alzheimers, cancer and warts. By the time WIllie
sees the collection againb, it will be 2006, and Willie will be a biologist
with the National Association for Tidal Studies. Imagine that.
I never lie.
*******************
On his collection:
"For me, wentletraps are perfect. No one can ever get all of them. They are
small and fit into three drawers. No one has written a good book on them --
yet (I keep working on that). And we can still use most of the house for
things ordinary people do.
********************
On keeping live mollusks:
"Oh yes. There's one other advantage. When the critter dies, you can add it
to your collection -- self-collected, fresh dead."
Good Christmas book for a new sheller you know? And the bad news? I've no
idea where you can get a copy. Bug Maria and Art, maybe?
Lynn (no, I am not getting a commission) Scheu
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