Death of J. W. Durham

From
Date
We are sorry to inform the paleontological community of the death of one of its
most esteemed members, J. Wyatt Durham.  He was of one of the America's
most distinguished
paleontologists.  Wyatt died peacefully at is home
in Kennisgton, California
on Wednesday, 15 May, having  reached nearly 89 years in age.

He had broad
temporal interests from the Cambrian to the Recent,
and his taxonomic interests included the Mollusca, Corals, and foraminifera,
but his clear favorite were the echinoderms.  Wyatt's knowledge of the
Pacific coast Tertiary was unequaled.

As a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, and a
Faculty Curator in the Berkeley Museum of Paleontology, he influenced many
young paleontologists as teacher, mentor and critic.  His knowledge was
freely available to these younger folks and he always liked talking about
unusual fossils.  He found many unusual things in the field--some were
amazing new fossils, like the helicoplacoids he described with K. Castor,
while others remain in the Museum's drawers awaiting verification that they
are fossils at all!  We never throw Durham-collected material away, for he
could see things the rest of us would easily miss.

Wyatt was a Past-President of the Paleontological Society, won the
Society's Medal several years
ago, and just two years ago was awarded the Best Paper Award in the Journal
of Paleontology.  Wyatt was an important
influence in international paleontology.  He will be missed.


David R. Lindberg  &
Jere H. Lipps

Museum of Paleontology
University of California
Berkeley, California 94720 USA

Voice:  510-642-9006.  Fax:  510-642-1822
Internet:  jlipps@ucmp1.berkeley.edu
WWW:  http://ucmp1.berkeley.edu