[meteorite-list] Concerns for the Meteorite Dealers, Collectors and the Scientific Community

[Notkin]

Ken Silz posted:

"AGREED JUDGMENT IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that STEVEN ARNOLD shall pay  
actual damages in the amount of $100,000.00 to Plaintiffs . . . Anyone  
can "Google" Dr. Elbert King and note the first link.  There you will  
find the Perez Iron - Dr. Elbert King's transported Odessa meteorite  
at  the aerolite web site."


Ken:

The Elbert King transported Odessa, known as "The Perez Iron," is for  
sale on my website, www.aerolite.org and it is a superb historic piece  
accompanied by signed Elbert King letters. By asking people to "note  
the first link," immediately following a quote from a legal document,  
you seem to be inferring some connection between the Dr. Elbert King  
estate lawsuit and my offering of this piece on "the aerolite web site."

The Elbert King Odessa/Perez Iron was, at no time, the property of the  
late Dr. King, or the Elbert King estate, and has never been  
associated with Steve Arnold, or the sale of meteorites from the King  
estate. Dr. King identified the iron for the owner, and -- many years  
later -- the owner asked me to help him find a good home for it. As  
someone who presents themselves as a knowledgeable collector, I am  
surprised that you are not familiar with the history of this important  
and well documented meteorite:

http://www.aerolite.org/museum/elbert-king-odessa.htm

It is my understanding that the short-lived issue between the King  
estate and Steve Arnold was quickly and happily settled, and Steve's  
sale of the King estate meteorites generated substantial income for  
Dr. King's heirs. In light of that fact, your post might be viewed as  
a poorly executed smear campaign.

As previously noted on the Meteorite List, Steve Arnold was found not  
guilty on all counts during the recent lawsuit filed against him by  
your friend Phil Mani. As Steve's name has been cleared, it now seems  
rather childish to be posting out-of-context excerpts from personal  
correspondence to a public forum.


Geoff N.

www.aerolite.org
www.meteoritemen.com
www.meteoriteblog.org