I first met Bob right after I moved to Sanibel, some 40 years ago. He was a local fishing captain on Captiva, and I had opened my first store, so he came in to see what my shells looked like. We hit it off and stayed friends all these years. When Sanibel was studying the shelling situation, Bob and I were put on a committee by our then mayor, Porter Goss, to study whether shells should no longer be taken live. Neither of us were in favor of any ban. After many hearings, our opinions did not matter, and the city enacted the ban. Sometimes, if Bob had a space on one of his charters, he would take me along as the shell guru, and so I spent a great deal of time with him. When he published his book , I invited him to the Author’s Table at our shell show, where he regaled everyone with the early history of our islands. He also came out with a shell guide, and was part of the local community for years. - Edit