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Post by jshuey on Jan 11, 2018 6:03:30 GMT -8
That's pretty sad. We all had a "Bob" in our lives, I know I did; his name was Edward. And sooner or later we will be a "Bob" ourselves. One thing I would like to add, that your friend Bob was lucky to have a friend like you. Bedros I totally agree with Bedros' sentiment. We give and we get. John
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Post by exoticimports on Jan 11, 2018 8:12:41 GMT -8
The thing I noted about Bob's life changes is decay. It's not like he keeled over one day. It was a steady decline. First, he couldn't make the Lep Soc meeting. Then he stopped sugaring. A dropped drawer on the way into a scholastic display destroyed the contents. He was setting some of the material I gave him, and with specimens still on the board that effort ended, and the specimens sat long enough the be destroyed by dermestids. By the time he donated his collection several drawers had suffered infestation, which he was shocked at when I later told him.
I pulled some stuff out of his basement after he donated the collection. Before the house sold I was contacted by his family to get some last "stuff", drove over there right away, but nobody was home. It all went into the trash. Spreading boards, publications, etc. Even his prized hand made wall hanging. Trashed, thrown away with no effort on the part of family to place the materials with another collector or university.
The moral of the story is to divest a collection before it's too late. The dilemma is not recognizing when it's time. Certainly, make sure your family has a SPECIALIST they know how to contact in case something happens. For example, I have a box of small (non insect) parts of another collection that look like nothing and sell for $25 each; nobody except a specialist would know what they are, and I'm certain the family would just toss them out.
I've already indicated in my will where my collection goes. Everyone should. Don't expect your family to be interested in Ebay or shipping individual specimens either- in my case the collection goes wholesale to the recipient.
Chuck
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Post by depalma on Jan 11, 2018 17:30:17 GMT -8
We look before and after, And pine for what is not: Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught; Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.
(Percy Bysshe Shelley)
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Post by exoticimports on Nov 12, 2020 5:00:34 GMT -8
Well, almost seven years after my first post/ story, here's an update. If you've not read from the beginning (or even if you had years ago) please do read from the beginning. Bob has bounced from nursing home to nursing home. I believe that as his retirement funds dwindled, they booted him out to a lesser (quality and cost) home. I'm still trying to track him down. I messaged his son's phone, and got a curt reply that it's the wrong number- I suspect it is indeed his son's phone, but they seemed to have a cold relationship and I think his son just wants to be left out. Recently, I needed to refer to his collection for a research project, so went to the university to which he'd donated the collection. I did get the data I needed, but noted a serious dermestid infestation. I've now been contracted by the university to save the collection. Bob's collection has some great material. The more showy (and impressive to the buyer-type collector) are the specimens one could buy in the 1960s, but are difficult to obtain today. Impressive to me are the thousands of small moths, yet to be thoroughly researched and cataloged. But you know what really hit me? The dozen or so drawers arranged for public display. There's nothing rare or exotic; rather, they are drawers with specimens set with extra attention, well spaced, and labeled. Unlike his other drawers, often packed, setting quality often hurried, and not always well collated, these drawers were meant to accent the unique and beautiful lepidoptera. Labeled "Exotic Butterflies", "Butterflies at Flowers", "Underwings", etc they stand out and present the topic in the most spectacular manner. I imagine the time and effort that Bob expended, all with the intent to educate and impress youths. I think back to the days when Bob was the front man at local science events in the 1970s. In fact, Bob continued to do so until after 2010. And while few, if any, of the impressed youths (aside from me) went on to study Leps, I imagine that Bob's displays left a lasting impression on many. Chuck ETA: The rare specimens that went MIA are still MIA, I wonder where they went. I did find a Cornell Drawer of interest; I'd previously ignored it because it was empty. This time I noticed that it has my name on the label, with "Solomon Islands". And it's empty. Hmmm.... And, I did find dozen of specimens of moths I'd brought back from Solomon Islands, none of which are in my collection, and I am uncertain if they are identified. One for the rarities fanatics (date 1963): Bob's Educational Underwing drawer: Two of my moths:
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Nov 12, 2020 5:59:57 GMT -8
I am probably the last person who should respond to this thread. I am 75 years of age. I still have all of my facalties, at least I think I do.
I have made all the arrangements for my collection, all of the Drawers and Cabinets as well as the Schmidt Boxes and other containers of pinned and papered material and a small chest type freezer full of papered material.
I recently acquired two more 24 drawer cabinets.
Very few Lepidopterists have seen my collection. I will start to spread out my collection with the new cabinets. The past 20 years has seen a huge growth in Erebidae and Noctuidae moths in my collection. And this AM I spread 26 moths which I collected this AM.
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 12, 2020 8:17:20 GMT -8
Your image of that Catocala drawer is especially nice. I think it shows well the "passion" that your friend had for his beloved hobby. He prepared his specimens up quite nicely.
Was this drawer and the other display drawers (you mentioned) pulled together by the University staff to highlight various topics or were these pulled together by Bob many years ago for his educational teachings?
Did you happen to take photos of any of his other display drawers? Would not mind seeing those if you have any...
Sorry, to bother about photos but, I enjoy seeing how others display their specimens and label them.
Naturally, my eye for detail has found a couple of misnomers in the drawer -- maybe the university's fault !
In the first column and the (third specimen down) it is labeled as nebulosa when it is in fact another neogama. That species is variable. Also, in the same column further down (near the bottom) the two specimens labeled as Euparthenos nubilis (i.e. Locust underwing) though correctly labeled are not true Catocala underwings. Euparthenos is a monotypic genus unique to itself. One other one which I feel is misidentified is in the third column right underneath C. relicta. I feel that large black one is Catocala maestosa and not Catocala viduata as it is labeled...
The rest of the eastern North American material looks correct to me however, I cannot speak for any of the western species as I have never had opportunity to collect or own any of them.
Once again, thank you for showing your friend's specimen drawer here. Wonderful compilation of the genus which many of us are passionate about. Your friends preparation skills help convey the "passion" which he had for these creatures he so embraced the better part of his life!
By the way what papilionid rarity is that in the above photograph ? Is there a story behind it ?
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Post by exoticimports on Nov 12, 2020 8:24:12 GMT -8
Hopr,
These are Bob's drawers, as he left them. There is actually another "display" case of Catocala- and many drawers of Catocala, Noctuidae, etc.
I took photos of each drawer shortly after they were donated four years ago. However, it was a rush job (with 144 storage cases) and Bob waiting for me, and the lighting was poor in the Uni facility. As I work on restoring and collating the collection I plan to take a better photo of each drawer.
Papilio caiguanabus, I believe, endemic to Cuba. It caught my eye because I did not recognize it (not that I'm any sort of Papilio expert.) I had to look it up and it appears that it's considered rare. In fact, Bob has a label on the pin "rare", and that no doubt is 40-50 years old!
Chuck
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Post by bobw on Nov 12, 2020 8:31:02 GMT -8
The Papilionid is actually Battus devilliersi, not Papilio caiguanabus.
Nice drawer of Catocala!
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 12, 2020 8:38:23 GMT -8
It is a pity to hear that your friends collection has seen another serious infestation. Bad enough, you say to contract you to save it...
You know our member Yorky has mentioned several times in various posts that smaller universities and or museums who take on collections like this are often ill-fitted to care for them. Too few staff (often just 1 or 2), two little money for needed supplies or maintenance cost, and general neglect unfortunately...
It all ends up with decent well intentioned collections fading away with time.
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Post by kevinkk on Nov 12, 2020 9:04:39 GMT -8
A great story. From personal experience with my father, old age isn't always what you expect.Enjoy the present while you can, for tomorrow may never come. A difficult thing for anyone to grasp, and unlikely. A life well lived is it's own reward, even if you can't remember it.
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Post by yorky on Nov 12, 2020 11:30:08 GMT -8
In my experience its not just lack of resources and staff that's the problem with smaller museums, it's a lack of desire. I think the idea of collecting specimens is beyond most young curators and the ones that I have met seem apathetic. Of course they have no idea that what is in front of them took years of sacrifice and patience to acquire and is the result of a lifetimes dedication.
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Post by trehopr1 on Nov 12, 2020 13:58:59 GMT -8
O'h you are indeed so right about the sacrifice, patience, and un-bridled lifetime dedication (passion)...
I think only "dyed in the wool" enthusiasts, along with some specialists, and maybe a few dedicated professionals truly understand the real "passion" or love put into a well prepared, labelled, and categorized collection.
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Post by exoticimports on Apr 19, 2021 4:19:16 GMT -8
I am sad to announce the passing of my friend and entomologist mentor, Robert (Bob) J. Iveson. Bob's collection of almost 14,000 specimens spans five decades of entomological passion. While there are a series of well labeled display cases for educational events, Bob's real love was micros; his collection contains about 6,000 micro moths, mostly from Upstate NY. His collection is housed at State University at Brockport (SUNY Brockport). In November 2020, I was contracted to restore and maintain the Iveson collection. It had been largely neglected; not only by Bob in his last years, and prior to donation to SUNY, but since arriving at SUNY Brockport- they simply did not have anyone to look after the collection. In surveying the collection, I noted some mold, but unfortunately active Dermestic infestations in many drawers. Thus, I was contracted to repair and restore the Iveson collection. Through 2019, Bob had been confined to the old folk's home by COVID, and also bounced in-and-out of the hospital. Most of his family is out of state, thus during the COVID period he received no visitors. He'd tell me that he wanted me to pick him up and take him to SUNY Brockport to see his collection, but of course that was impossible; beyond COVID he'd be unable to negotiate the stairs. Bob seemed to think I was neglecting him, unable to understand the situation "on the outside." Meanwhile, Bob's physical and mental powers continued to decline. Somewhat understanding Bob's frustration, I published a hardcover book on his entomology work. Nothing great- simply one color photo page per display case, plus comments: about 150 pages in total. I sent it to Bob in early December 2020, hoping to surprise him for Christmas. Instead, the book cycled the North East (noting that I could have driven it there in 30 minutes), and arrived well after Jan 1. I guess the "good" thing about Bob's condition is that he "discovered" the book several times. However, our conversations were usually one-sided, I had no idea if Bob understood. Then in March 2021 his family called and said he was coherent, so I called Bob and he was so delighted to have "received" his book! Last week his family notified me he was in the hospital again. On Saturday I was headed to SUNY Brockport to work on his collection, so I stopped at the hospital to see Bob. After speaking to him for a while, he awoke. I continued to talk about working on his collection, and I'd brought a copy of the book and showed him some of the photos. I don't know if he recognized me, but he knew somebody was there. Bob Iveson passed away later that day. Though life had separated us for decades, I know what Bob did. His collection is a documented history of his trips to the Appalachians, Australia, Pena Blanca, and out west. I know where he went on vacation, and when. It's all there- his whole life, stored on labels. I'm glad we re-connected, and got one collecting trip together. I still struggle with how it's possible that someone so energetic, a complete fireball, could age and pass...but it is, I know, inevitable. Thanks, Bob, for sharing your passion with a very young kid. I'm no longer young (or close to it) but Bob's fire still burns within me.
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Post by exoticimports on Nov 16, 2021 16:33:27 GMT -8
Perhaps the last saga in this story. I’d been deinfesting and collating Bobs collection for a few years, and if you’ve read the whole thread, Bob passed away seven months ago.
It as a lot of work for me stabilizing and repairing the collection, and with my own reference collection to curate, it was tough to keep up. I reached out to several of our members for advice on the best repository (thanks to them)
So I’m pleased to report that the 14,000 specimen Iveson collection has been re-homed to Cornell University. Bob would be pleased to have his life’s work residing with the Franclemont collection.
Chuck
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Post by bandrow on Nov 20, 2021 7:16:46 GMT -8
Greetings,
I just saw this, so I'm a little behind...
On one hand, so sorry to hear of the passing of a dedicated entomologist, but also glad that he passed his passion on to you, so that it lives on. All of us need to somehow "pass the baton" to keep the science alive and moving forward. So many factors work against this kind of passion for nature, so if we all end up encouraging just one person to follow in our footsteps, it can make more difference than all the bugs on pins we leave behind.
When the question of a depository for this collection arose, I initiated a discussion at work about whether we (CMNH) would be appropriate. Our decision was that we would not be the best fit for it, as it was a primarily NE collection and we currently have no microlepidopterist on staff. Hearing that it went to Cornell is very good news, and it being associated with the Franclemont collection is a perfect fit for it.
Cheers! Bandrow
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