[Rockhounds] new Agates and Jaspers book

[Carolyn & Steve Weinberger]

Ron has generously donated two copies of the book to the American  
Federation Endowment Fund for their annual fund raising drawing.

In addition to Ron's book, there are several other wonderful things  
that you could own IF you hold the winning ticket.

Cost is $5 each or 5 for $20 with all proceeds going to the Endowment  
Fund.  Interest from the invested monies is used for a variety of  
projects that benefit clubs who are members of the various regional  
federations --- digital programs given to the federation libraries  
for use by members at no cost to the federations;  the highly  
successful junior rockhound merit badge program where all the badges  
earned by juniors are given at no charge to the kids or clubs, etc.

Want a chance to win a copy of Ron's book (or any of the other  
prizes?).  You can order tickets by sending your name, address and  
phone number along with your check (payable to "AFMS Endowment Fund"  
and a SASE to:

AFMS Endowment Drawing
%Carolyn Weinberger
PO Box 302
Glyndon, MD 21071-0302

The drawing will be held during the AFMS/NFMS Convention at the end  
of July in Billings, MT.  You need not be present to win!

Carolyn


On May 23, 2009, at 1:19 PM, Pmodreski at aol.com wrote:

> Hi, Rockhounds List,
>
> I wanted to tell you about a new book which I think is quite good, and
> which I don't think (unless I have missed it, that does happen  
> sometimes) has
> been mentioned yet on our List.
>
> It's "Agates and Jaspers", by Ron Gibbs, just published (2009) by  
> him via
> his own publishing & website company.  You can read all about it,  
> and  order
> it if interested, from his website, _http://www.theimage.com/_
> (http://www.theimage.com/)  .
>
> It is indeed a real (hard copy printed) book, 239 pages (if you  
> count the
> last page, which is blank), softcover.  It mostly consists of very  
> good
> color photos of all kinds of agate and jasper, but with just enough  
> explanatory
>  text to make for some interesting reading about the different  
> varieties
> and his  thoughts and summaries about how the different types of  
> agate and
> jasper may have formed.  I particularly appreciated (and thought,   
> mostly
> right on!) his summary about what is the difference between agate  
> and  jasper,
> anyway?, and his discussions about what is or isn't, really   
> "jasper", in
> spite all the things that are called jasper, sometime  inaccurately.
>
> The back of the book and his website give a capsule bio about the  
> author,
> noting his professional backgrounds (research chemistry, digital
> photography,  and website management) and that he was the website  
> manager for the
> Midwest  Federation for several years, and now lives in North  
> Carolina.  Ron is
> obviously a person who is very passionately interested in rocks,  
> especially
> agate and jasper, who knows quite a bit about them, and is a skilled
> photographer.  I ordered this book ($40 + $4 shipping in U.S.) a  
> week or  two ago
> and it arrived very promptly, shipped directly by him and signed  as
> advertised by the author.
>
> Surprisingly, I'd not yet heard about this book through any of the  
> regular
> "rockhound" channels; I read about it in via email I receive from  
> Colored
> Stone magazine, which contains mostly gemstone trade news.  I was very
> pleased to read about this new book, it sounded very good, and it  
> is.   There
> have been a number of books published about agates, but who has  
> ever seen
> anything in detail before written about jasper?
>
> About the only (a minor quibble) criticism I'd make about the book  
> is that
> it doesn't cover (or, necessarily claim to) "every type" of agate and
> jasper--some of the pages of pictures seem to be just of whatever  
> particular
> examples of pretty and unusual-looking agate or jasper the author  
> happened to
> have acquired, and sometimes the locality for what he shows is  
> simply given
> as  "I got this from a dealer at Quartzsite who said it was from  
> Turkey".
> He  just gives a light touch to fortification agates overall--I  
> don't think
> there  are any pictures at all of Lake Superior  or Fairburn  
> agates--but
> there are  plenty of other books that picture these, and most of  
> his emphasis
> is on plume,  moss, and sagenitic agates, and jaspers.
>
> I like the book!
>
> Pete Modreski, Denver, Colorado
>
> **************Recession-proof vacation ideas.  Find free things to  
> do in
> the U.S.
> (http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week? 
> ncid=emlcntustrav00000002)
>
>
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