[meteorite-list] Fwd: "Black-Market Trinkets From Space" April 5, 2011

[Richard Montgomery]

Darryl and List,

Now I'm even more offended by the NYT.  The audacity of the NYT to edit a 
letter-to-the-editor is the ultimate shame.  What a crock of s**t.

Darryl, however, what they did publish of your original letter was a great 
"back-atcha" and you shouldn't be embarrased.  Congrats are in order for 
you.

This of course, should make us all wonder what they'll do with Anne's 
letter.

Richard Montgomery




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Darryl Pitt" <darryl at dof3.com>
To: "Meteorite-list List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2011 10:27 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Fwd: "Black-Market Trinkets From Space" April 
5,2011




The "Letter to the Editor" referred to was, of course, edited.  It was also 
written prior to the receipt of emails from Drs. Agee and Harvey in which 
they disavowed the use of their quotes.  The New York Times is my local 
paper and the publication of this article has been terribly embarrassing.

This was the the letter I hoped they would publish....


Begin forwarded message:

> From: Darryl Pitt <darryl at dof3.com>
> Date: April 5, 2011 11:39:18 AM EDT
> To: letters at nytimes.com
> Cc: scitimes at nytimes.com
> Subject: "Black-Market Trinkets From Space" April 5, 2011
>
>
> To The Editor:
>
> Your article “Black-Market Trinkets From Space” offers a highly misleading 
> portrait of private meteorite hunters, characterizing them as “looters” 
> whose endeavors have had a negative impact on scientific research. On the 
> contrary, private collectors are not the bane of science, but are most 
> often important contributors to new research. Consider that as a result of 
> the harvesting done by Bedouins, Berbers and others, 32 distinct specimens 
> of Mars and 43 distinct specimens of the Moon, as well as other exotic 
> samples, have been discovered in the hot deserts since the mid-1990s---all 
> of which have undergone study. Conversely, not one such specimen was 
> recovered by scientists in these regions before this time, and since then 
> scientists have recovered only four such specimens. In fact, it has been 
> argued there is no other scientific discipline where researchers have been 
> aided as much by the private sector than in the study of meteorites.
>
> Darryl Pitt
> New York City
>

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