Kunath’s photo of Helmer titled “May Nothing You Dismay” is probably my favorite caving photo ever taken.
> On Apr 24, 2020, at 4:22 PM, Ron Ralph <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Ross, > > Kunath is indeed the one to talk to about Bill Helmer. Attached is a note > from 1955 in the records of the Texas Speleological Survey that might help > somewhat. > > Ron Ralph, TSS Director > > From: [email protected] > Sent: Friday, April 24, 2020 7:59 AM > To: texascavers > Cc: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Historical Question > > I think a "person of interest" to look into here is Bill Helmer. He was a > UTG caver back about then and he was a cartoonist who did many caver > cartoons. See his book "There we was" He went on to have a career at a > nationally prominent magazine, Playboy. Even if this is a blind lead you > will find interesting things. NSS bulletin 10 on "The Caves of Texas" was a > bit after that as I recall, so I dont think its involved here. 1954 is very > early UT grotto. Sadly many of the people I would ask about this are no > longer with us > > From: "kara posso" <[email protected]> > To: "texascavers" <[email protected]>, [email protected] > Sent: Friday, April 24, 2020 7:48:55 AM > Subject: [Texascavers] Historical Question > > Hello Everyone, > > Below is a message i received from a fellow through the grotto email the > other day. I thought that he would have better luck solving his mystery with > the help of all of you since my institutional knowledge does not go back this > far. Ross is included on this email, please reply to hum or remember to hit > REPLY ALL to keep him on the email chain since he is not signed up on the > listserve. > > Also Ross, if there is anyway you can share the comic strip (or part of it) i > am sure people would be interested to see! > > Thanks folks! > Kara > > > My name is Ross Burns, and several people on Facebook suggested that I post > this question to your group.It concerns spelunking in the Austin area in the > period of 1953-54. > > I am a fan of the old Pogo comic strips by Walt Kelly. He frequently mentions > real people. events, and groups in the strip. I have been reading a recent > re-issue of the strips for 1955 and 1956. In a storyline he published > beginning in January of 1955, he repeatedly mentions the University of Texas > Spelunking Team. Partly I know that he loved to play with words including > spelunking. However the repeated mention of UT and Texas over 2 or 3 months, > makes me wonder if there was a particular event that he was referring to. > Some of the characters are trying to reach the team to help rescue a frog > that was swallowed by Albert the alligator. So, it may have been some sort of > rescue or similar event. > > Since Kelly wrote the strips well ahead of publication date, he probably > started this storyline in November or December of 1954. > > I would appreciate any information that you might be able to shed on this > mystery. > > Thank you for your time and attention. > > Ross Burns > > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > [email protected] | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > [email protected] | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers > <1956.DOC> > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > [email protected] | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
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