Christmas Day visits to the uncles, my mother's brothers, at their San Francisco homes was a family tradition. Uncle Frank was a noted lapidary, a pioneer in artistic and sculptural gem cutting in the U.S., author of a standard work on the subject. He was a man of many and varied interests; here at age 8, when I was at the height of my fascination with maps, I was all agog listening to him expound on the subject as we pored through the pages of an old atlas from his collection. I have similar vivid memories of being sprawled on his living room floor engrossed in the illustrations in his books on art and sculpture while all the grownups were yakking away in the dining room. Uncle Frank was, of course, my inspiration for becoming a rockhound, and supplied me with a number of exotic mineral specimens. At the time of this photo, he still had this car stowed away in his basement. 2¼-inch square Kodak Verichrome Pan negative, shot by my brother with my sister's Kodak Duaflex. View full size.
Christmas Day visits to the uncles, my mother's brothers, at their San Francisco homes was a family tradition. Uncle Frank was a noted lapidary, a pioneer in artistic and sculptural gem cutting in the U.S., author of a standard work on the subject. He was a man of many and varied interests; here at age 8, when I was at the height of my fascination with maps, I was all agog listening to him expound on the subject as we pored through the pages of an old atlas from his collection. I have similar vivid memories of being sprawled on his living room floor engrossed in the illustrations in his books on art and sculpture while all the grownups were yakking away in the dining room. Uncle Frank was, of course, my inspiration for becoming a rockhound, and supplied me with a number of exotic mineral specimens. At the time of this photo, he still had this car stowed away in his basement. 2¼-inch square Kodak Verichrome Pan negative, shot by my brother with my sister's Kodak Duaflex. | Click image for Comments. | Home | Browse All Photos