Whoops, didn't mean the double negative. "...rocks that I won't be _able_ to add to my collection..." grammar police almost got me : )
On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 4:24 PM, Michael Mulgrew <[email protected]> wrote: > Well shoot, that makes 2 of my 3 birthday falls rocks that I won't be > unable to add to my collection (the other being Baxter, formerly part > of the Nininger Collection). At least Tagish Lake is available, > although at $600/g and up it's not exactly affordable to me. > Hopefully Lorton will be on public display the next time I'm in D.C. > > from sunny so. Cal > Michael > > On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 1:31 PM, Greg Stanley <[email protected]> > wrote: >> Last year I visited a friend who works at the Smithsonian and I got to hold >> the Lorton meteorite; it's absolutely a magnificent specimen. >> >> Greg S. >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On Mar 18, 2011, at 11:22 AM, "JoshuaTreeMuseum" >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >>> The landlords got outlawyered: >>> >>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/whatever-happened-to-the-lorton-meteorite-/2011/03/04/AB14tMq_story.html >>> >>> >>> By Neely Tucker, Sunday, March 20, 11:42 AM >>> When last we heard, Everybody's Favorite Meteorite was locked up in legal >>> limbo. >>> >>> The oblong little rock from outer space lighted up the late afternoon sky >>> across Washington on Jan. 18, 2010, and rocketed into a doctors' office in >>> Lorton. Moving at a leisurely 200 mph, it crashed into examination room No. >>> 2 in the Williamsburg Square Family Practice, even though it did not have >>> an appointment. >>> >>> The startled (but unhurt) doctors, Marc Gallini and Frank Ciampi, donated >>> it to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, which houses the >>> world's largest collection of meteorites. >>> >>> But then their landlords said not so fast: The 2-by-3-inch visitor from the >>> asteroid belt was estimated to be worth at least $50,000 on the earth-bound >>> meteorite market, in part because of its dramatic and well-documented >>> entrance. Thousands of people saw its fireball descent (the museum has a >>> photograph of the vapor trail), and radar sweeps documented its path across >>> the region. >>> >>> The landlords demanded its return. Gallini said of their behavior: "It >>> isn't nice." Legal wrangling ensued. >>> >>> We are delighted, a year later, that there is a happy ending. >>> >>> The landlords eventually dropped their claims, the Smithsonian gave the >>> doctors $10,000 for the Lorton meteorite (its formal name) in early >>> February, and the physicians donated the check to the charity Doctors >>> Without Borders last week. Linda Welzenbach, the meteorite collection >>> manager at the Smithsonian, says it will soon be on public display, though >>> no date has been set. >>> >>> "We are very happy that it's staying at the Smithsonian," Gallini says. "We >>> felt that where it's belonged since the beginning." >>> >>> Deniz Mutlu, a member of the family that owns the building, said his only >>> issue with events was that "we got portrayed as the bad guys." >>> >>> "All we wanted to do was donate it to a different institution (Phillips >>> Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire), where my wife attended school," he said. >>> "The doctors wanted to litigate. They had pro bono counsel. We just let it >>> go." >>> >>> The meteorite, which existed for about 4.5 billion years floating around >>> between Mars and Jupiter, now spends its time in a little plastic box deep >>> in the Mason-Clarke Meteorite Vault in the Smithsonian. It has thousands of >>> other little asteroid friends, including three from Mars, to keep it >>> company. >>> >>> Holding the Lorton meteorite with blue latex gloves, Welzenbach smiled. >>> >>> "It's going to stay here where everyone can see it." >>> >>> CURIOUS? Tell us what past Washington Post story or person in the news you >>> want us to update. E-mail [email protected] or call 202.334.4208. >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------ >>> >>> Phil Whitmer >>> >>> ______________________________________________ >>> Visit the Archives at >>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html >>> Meteorite-list mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >>> >> ______________________________________________ >> Visit the Archives at >> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html >> Meteorite-list mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >> > ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
