Sue’s Mindat homepage

I started collecting before I could drive. My interest increased when a friend of Mom’s gave me a mineral collection that her son no longer wanted. I wanted to know about the specimens and the donor directed me to a local knowledgeable guy. He, Dr. Edwin Roedder, was a noted mineralogist, though I simply knew him as someone I’d visit, talk minerals, and usually get something to take home. Dr. Roedder studied fluid inclusions, particularly sphalerite. I soon learned that many of the unknowns he handed me were sphalerite.
I was mentored by members of the Gem, Lapidary, and Mineral Club of Montgomery County, Maryland and inspired by the nearby Smithsonian Institution’s collection (then simply displayed in long rows of specimens). My parents drove me on field trips and began collecting, too.
Realizing that a job in mineral museum curating was unlikely, I became an economic geologist. I married another econ geologist and we moved in to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Roger Haskins and I have moved from Winnipeg to Riverside, CA, then Sacramento, on to Fairfax, VA. We moved again, to Reno, before settling back in Fairfax. There are lots of minerals, clubs, and nice people in all those places.
I worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and later the U.S. Geological Survey. Movers loved us because they are paid by weight--and we had minerals, rocks, and books. As part of our 1st professional move, the packers wrapped a handful of my minerals together with no padding. The result was more specimens than when the move started because they broke. The company then tried to devalue them, telling us the specimens were now older (from when they were purchased or collected until our move), and thus less valuable!
We are members of several local clubs. I write a Mineral of the Month column for the Northern Virginia Mineral Club. Many Mindat members have graciously allowed us to use their images to illustrate the articles. I finally created this homepage because, when I try to contact people who have posted images on Mindat, they may not respond to my messages through Mindat. And if their homepage doesn’t give me a clue on how to contact them, I’m stumped. I’m trying to use Mindat to facilitate communications. I know I owe many of you a link to the published columns. I have good intentions to get them to you. The link is: https://www.novamineralclub.org/newsletters
I’m interested in minerals education, particularly the uses of economic minerals and their sources. Despite decades of gathering my collection, I haven’t specialized.
Thanks friends, for sharing your love of minerals.