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Re: ODESSA METEORITE HUNTER
A fascinating man certainly worthy of METEORITE! and more...
Thanks, Geoff.
Darryl
At 09:43 PM 6/18/98 -0400, geoking@intercall.com wrote:
>Greetings,
>
>I received a phone call from Nancy Pliska of Odessa, Texas this evening,
>with the sad news that her husband, James Pliska, had recently died at the
>age of 78. James was a long-time resident of Odessa, and one of the first
>people in the United States to hunt for meteorites with metal detectors.
>
>James held an important position with the U.S.A.F., during World War II --
>he was a B-17 pilot, and such a fine one that he was not allowed into
>combat. Rather, he had the difficult task of picking and testing pilot and
>co-pilot teams, in order to judge which pairs of men were compatible,
>before releasing them for active duty. Towards the end of the war, he was
>one of the first Americans to set foot in Japan, where he assisted in
>evacuating and caring for American P.O.W.s
>
>After the war ended, James returned to Texas and purchased an army surplus
>mine detector which he used to hunt for Civil War relics and other
>militaria, in the dunes around Odessa and Monahans. James eventually turned
>the old mine detector on the Odessa meteorite crater, from which he
>excavated, traded, and sold, many irons.
>
>He aroused the interest of Mr. White -- the owner of the White's metal
>detector company -- and James' experience in field work was later drawn
>upon by Mr. White to improve the efficiency and scope of the White's
>detector range.
>
>I had the privilege of spending some time with James prior to this year's
>Tucson show. I visited him just with the intent of conducting an interview,
>but we ended up visiting the Odessa crater together, taking photos, and
>spending many hours discussing his collection of natural history speicmens,
>and military artifacts.
>
>I hope that Joel Schiff won't mind if I mention that he and I have
>discussed the possibility of doing an article on James -- and his fellow
>Odessa meteorite hunter James Williams (who is pictured in Mr. Norton's
>"Rocks from Space") -- in an upcoming issue of "Meteorite!" If this comes
>to fruition, I will do my best to paint an accurate portrait of this
>gentlemany and colorful meteorite hunter.
>
>James retained only a very few small irons in his private collection. I do
>ask -- most seriously -- that over-enthusiastic collectors not pester Mrs.
>Pliska about the disposition of these few remaining pieces. As most of you
>well know, Odessas are widely available elsewhere on the collector's
>market. An offer has already been made to Mrs. Pliska to assist in the
>placing of James' small collection, and in the event that it does come onto
>the market, I will make that information avaliable to the list.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Geoff Notkin
>
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