[meteorite-list] Ron Hartman

[Bernd V. Pauli]

Anne just informed us:

"Tonight I have the very sad mission to inform you all that Ron
 Hartman, one of the "inventors" of the IMCA has passed away."

Thank you, Anne! I am sure Ron will meet up with his "chum"
Richard and they will rejoin in friendship up there, much closer
to their heavenly treasures than we down here.


O.R. Norton (1994, 1998, 2001) Rocks From Space, pp. 135-136.
O.R. Norton (1994, 1998, 2001) Rocks From Space, pp. 312-313.

Excerpt from pp. 135-136:

NORTON O.R. (1994, 1998, 2001) Rocks From Space, pp. 135-136, excerpt:

"My vicarious thrill sonn became reality. In 1964, my school chum Ronald Hartmau and I, both graduates of Frederick C. Leonard's course in meteoritics at UCLA, decided to try our hand at finding meteorites, and Odessa was our crater of choice. Armed wich a heavy, battery-laden World War II metal-detector, we began combing the plains around the crater. Hours went by – no lack. About an hour before sundown, with our spirits at a low ebb, Ron hit the 'fishing hole.' A strong signal promised a big one. We frantically began digging. One foot down, and the signal became stronger yet. At 2 feet, our shovel hit metal. We probed the ground and determined that the object was 8 to 10 inches wide on the side facing us. Clearly, this meteorite was no hand specimen! More digging revealed a 50-pound, nearly spherical iron meteorite. We struggled to free fit from its resting place. Urged on by our triumph, Ron continued to sweep the ground around the find. I had barely filled in the first hole when he had another strike. A few strong thrusts wich the shovel located a second meteorite, this one weighing 25 pounds. Then a few minutes later, a 7-pounder. One hundred and seven pounds of meteorites within fifteen minutes! Nininger had nothing on us."