I am Hershel Friedman, founder of Minerals.net, one of the most comprehensive guides to rocks, minerals, and gemstones. I am also president at Radial Web, a successful web design and development firm in operation since 2002.

I have been collecting, studying, and researching minerals since my youth. My collection is scientifically organized, containing rare and classical examples from obscure regions of New York, especially the Hudson Highlands and Ramapo Mountains. It also contains an extensive representation of the Northern New Jersey traprock minerals, especially New Street and Prospect Park. In addition to my regional collection focus, I also have a worldwide collection from my earlier years of collecting.

I have been designing websites since 1996, and my career in web design began with my minerals.net website. I originally started minerals.net as a way to organize my collection online, and soon it grew very large. I decided to place this catalog with detailed information online and make it publicly available. The new website was an instant hit, well-beyond my expectations. I kept on adding content and growing the site, and am very appreciative of my supportive audience.

I really enjoyed working on Minerals.net, and I expanded my interest in the web development field by founding Radial Web, a full web design and production company. I now lead a great design and programming team, and continue to utilize my skills to further enhance Minerals.net. Although my company designs websites in all sorts of industries, I have a special place for those in the mineral and gemstone field.

Minerals.net has also afforded me the opportunity to do extensive studies and research on minerals and gemstones, and one of the things I have learned in becoming an expert in this field is that there is always more to learn!

I am also an avid hiker and explorer. I have hiked every marked trail in Harriman/Bear Mountain State Parks, and have traveled along many of the trail networks in other park systems in NYS and NJ such as the Shawangunks, Catskills, Taconics, Wyanokies, etc. My hiking and exploring take me to places off the beaten path, where I have discovered many old mines and defunct mineral localities. I have brought several new minerals localities to focus. Please visit my hiking blog at www.harrimanhiker.com to see some of my latest hikes and explorations. I really enjoy photography, especially nature photography, which is evidenced by my hiking blog. I am a founding member of Commsar, a Community Search and Rescue organization based out of the Hudson Valley of New York, and have participated and lead several lost person searches.

My Mindat pages show only a minor fraction of my collection, though I hope to continuously trickle out new photos as I get around to it. I would love to add all the minerals in my collection to this Mindat profile for all to see, but I simply don't have enough time for this. Though I do try to upload several photos a month.