[meteorite-list] RE: haag pieces and a story of mine

[stan .]

>enthusiastic, lively voice on the other end of the line, something on the 
>order of "Hey dude! It's >Bob Haag, "The Meteorite Man"!" I distinctly 
>remember how kind he was, even though he must >have known that I didn't 
>have much money to spend on meteorites at that age. To me, that >shows how 
>important getting more younger people involved in collecting was to him, 
>and >collecting meteorites in general.



I couldnt agree more. I got into meteorites as a teenager who would save his 
lunch money for a few weeks (or months) to buy a few new small millbillillie 
individuals from David New. When I was younger i spent many a hour on the 
phone with Bob Haag just tlaking meteorites. At the time He new how old I 
was, and he knew that I would never be the kind of customer who buys 
expensive specimines, but Bob never did hesitate to let me chew his ear off 
- i rmeeber onmore than one occasion where he got a chuckle out of my mom 
picking up one of the other telephones in the house and complaining about 
what her phone bill would be like because of me staying on the line so long 
on a long distance call.

This tucson was especially memorable for me because this is the first time I 
have actually had the opportunity to meet Bob in person. I had planned to 
walk up to him and say "I'm sure you remeber me, I'm that kid who bought a 
50$ canyon diablo from you 15 years ago" but one of my tucson cohorts jumped 
the gun and introduced me before I had the chance - to my (almost) surprise 
Bob actually remebered talking to me from all that time ago.

I too bought a nice Bob Haag Collection piece this tucson - a dinner plate 
sized piece of Gladstone, New Mexico. not because it's a pretty slice (it 
is) not because it fits into my colelction (i admit it really doesnt) not 
because it has a nininger number (it does) but because it was a Bob Haag 
piece. I can open one of Bob's catalogs and actually see the slice pictured 
as part of his collection. As a general rule of tumb I never sell anything 
frm my colelction, unless I 'upgrade' to a newer, bigger piece of something, 
or have extra meteial left over aftyer making a window in a stone - but this 
Gladstone slice will always have a proud position in my collection as a 
piece of meteorite history. Not even a kilo stone of nakhla with 100% crust 
could pry it out oy my hands - ok maybe the nakhla stone COULD - but thats 
about the only thing that would! :)