In Memoriam: Barry Yampol (1937–2023)

There’s a line from the theme song of the old TV series Cheers that goes “sometimes you want to go where everyone knows your name.” I can’t think of anyone in the mineral world who does not know the name Barry Yampol. Although they may not have met him personally, his impact in the world of minerals and his acquisitions of “only the best” are certainly well known. I have written many tributes through the years—some are easier to write when I know the individual very well. Others require I put on my research hat and delve into the more personal side of my subject. I knew Barry Yampol. I spent a great deal of time with him in the early days, but yet I really did not know him. He was almost an invisible person in many ways. Rarely did he want to be photographed, rarely did he attend large mineral social functions, rarely did he discuss his personal life, and rarely were you invited into his home(s). That’s not a criticism—it was just Barry’s way.

Barry’s parents were eastern European immigrants who came to the United States and settled originally in Brooklyn, New York. His mom was a tiny bit of a thing at only 5 feet tall, but she was an excellent appraiser of her husband’s work as a dressmaker. And when I say “dressmaker” I am not talking about hemming a dress. His father, Paul Yampol, designed and manufactured woman’s dresses (Jane Junior), and stores such as BonWit Teller and others in New York City were customers. I did find some of the original Jane Junior dresses for sale, even today still in the $300+ price range. And here’s a surprise fact about Barry. His father limited his sizes in dresses to the norm, but Barry thought there was a wider audience (that would include me who was a size 6 only in the Eocene age). He left his father’s company to start his own business called Strad Knit with a wider range of sizes. Strad Knit was very successful, and he later sold it for a good profit. I did find one very attractive black sheath dress for $40 from Strad Knit. Both businesses were located in the famous garment district in New York. His very good friend since first grade said about Barry that “he always saw things differently from everyone else.” I suppose that is true because almost everything he touched or thought about all through life was from a very different angle than the norm.

Photo courtesy David Yampol

Barry grew up in Brooklyn. I’ll just mention briefly that his curious nature did not match his technical mind when he was younger—there was that incident when trying to clear the ice from the swimming pool with some DIY explosives—it worked (sort of). The swimming pool, however, did not survive. Let’s just call this a learning lesson. Now what to do? Technology, of course. Barry attended the University of Miami, then night classes at the City College of New York. After his father died in 1968, he switched from dressmaking to telecommunications, and he founded Graphic Scanning, headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey. Barry practically lived at the company premises with his wife, Joanne, and their son. The hours they put into this endeavor were countless. This new technology was still in its infancy in the ’60s and ’70s, and he surprised that world of communication, then controlled by companies like AT&T and Western Union. Business Week called Barry “a rising star that lives dangerously”—possibly … creating the nation’s largest radio-paging company was a dangerous undertaking, especially when you are taking on these mega companies and the FCC. It started with fax machines almost as big as a small car and then extended its reach into a host of other telecom businesses as well, including message services, direct broadcast satellite, mobile phones, low-power television, electronic fund transfers, and nationwide paging. Graphic Scanning was the largest holder in the radio paging market in the United States. I remember Barry coming into our booth at a Denver Show many, many years ago carrying a very cumbersome instrument that he called a “mobile phone”—I could hardly lift the darn thing! One could spend days on the internet reading about the success, the ups and downs, and the impact of Graphic Scanning within the world of communications. Barry also held various patents in the field of wireless communication. He went after as many spectrum licenses as regulations would allow. That was an exercise that took decades of dealing with the FCC, but he was tenacious. Graphic Scanning continued to be a major player until the company was acquired by BellSouth Enterprises in 1990.

Put down your cell phone, turn off the fax machine, and let me tell you about Barry Yampol, mineral and gem collector. To me, Barry was sort of like Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, who appeared and disappeared in a puff of clouds. When he made his first appearances at mineral shows and selected only the best specimens, he was then easily recognizable, and dealers would follow him around—“new kid on the block” sort of thing. Barry was interested in minerals when he was a young boy. Although I can’t confirm it, I suspect that it was a visit to the American Museum of Natural History’s mineral collection that intrigued him as a teenager, like so many collectors we know. He slipped into many of the New Jersey trap rock quarries for those “midnight acquisitions” and later with the help of Jimmy Z (sorry, can’t give the last name) who was a security guard at one of the quarries. Let’s just say Barry was a frequent visitor. On one of those trips to the quarry in Paterson he found Rock Currier and Richie Kosnar collecting there. Their paths would cross numerous times in the future when Rock and Richie became mineral dealers. Barry started with modest purchases but with a keen eye. I’ll use a line from another song: “we’re movin’ on up.” In Barry’s case, not to the east side, but to the rarified air of high-end collecting with the success of Graphic Scanning. No need to attend most mineral shows … the “shows” came to him for the most part. It’s difficult to judge exactly how extensive his personal collection might be—rarely did he display any of it, and when he did it was always the “gee, golly wow” case. Barry met Zoltan (Skippy) Szenics at an early show in Danbury, Connecticut, of all places, and soon Skip was his go-to man in Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. The shipments that came to Barry from these famous localities were diverse—atacamites, vivianites, pyrites, proustites, and on and on.

Also, who can forget the case of Imperial topaz from the Vermelhao mine, Ouro Preto, Brazil, at the Tucson Show. Barry had purchased the mine in 1985 with funds from the sale of Graphic Scanning shares. That mine is now shut down. The mine was so productive with high-quality Imperial topaz rough and crystals! He also purchased the famous Red Ledge gold mine in Nevada County, California. Skip Szenics and Trenton Davis operated that deposit. Only a few of what was found during his operation there have been seen on display. The mine is not operating at this time. His gold collection has been displayed at the American Museum of Natural History and the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. He also collected rare books on mineralogy and gemology, which are being prepared for museum display. The collection has been expertly catalogued by a library specialist from one of the major auction houses and is stored in a climate and humidity controlled environment.

It was Barry’s intention to someday build a private museum near his home on Long Island, but the city politics shut down that idea. Barry bought land for the planned museum next to the Theodore Roosevelt historical home and museum at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, New York. The city argued that a mineral museum was too esoteric to attract visitors. The land now has an old farmhouse and sees some agricultural use. Barry had been generous in conserving the large plot of land (nearly 120+ acres) with his Mineral and Research Charitable Trusts, both set up to preserve and protect the collections.

In 1976 Barry gave the Smithsonian more than $175,000 worth of Graphic Scanning stock to establish a Mineral Endowment Fund to support the collection. That endowment fund still exists. There are numerous other trusts. Barry sold one of his most beautiful properties in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2021. The Yacht Haven Park and Marina, located on 20+ acres along the south fork of the New River, was sold to fund the charitable trusts. There are at least ten companies and LLC’s under Barry’s name as well. (There will be some very busy estate attorneys in the coming months.)

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Barry Yampol owned one of the finest personal mineral collections in the world, but for the most part, few of us have ever seen the entire collection. It would have to be a magnificent display of some of the finest specimens known. Well, as it turns out, we may just get to see these specimens! In a surprising move, the collections will be donated, and various museums and institutions around the world will benefit. These transfers will take place over time—stay tuned!

For a man with so many fingers in the pie, one wonders what he did for fun when there was so little time left for fun. There is one thing that Barry loved with a passion, and that was fishing! He would often be in Panama on fishing trips, and his happy place was on a boat reeling in such species as corvina, cubera snapper, black marlin, Pacific sailfish, roosterfish, and others. He also did a lot of tarpon fishing while at home in Florida. Or, he would take his cigarette boat out for a run on the Long Island Sound—once was enough for me! Fast isn’t descriptive enough. Or he would take one of the high-speed fancy sports cars out for a spin—passed on that because I had been told he was a speed demon, and I was still trying to find my land legs. There were so many layers to Barry Yampol, and I am certain I missed many of them. We all have our own memories of our interactions with him.

Barry died peacefully in his sleep. He is survived by two sons, a sister, five grandchildren, and one great grandchild (for whom Barry had built a custom railroad on his old property in Oyster Bay, which the kids called “The Laurel Hills Express”). Joanne Maxine Yampol died in 2006. Barry remarried some years later to Laurie Praver who died in 2016. No doubt Barry will be remembered for rumors, speculation, gossip, and so on that goes along with being a very successful businessman and collector. He will surely be missed in the mineral world.

Dona Lee Leicht
Kristalle
875 North Pacific Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, California 92631
[email protected]

Footnote: It is no secret that Wayne and I had a tumultuous relationship with Barry in recent years, but that does not discount the fact that he was a genius! I am happy to be able to provide insight on the man who will become a legend.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A thank you is extended to John White for his edits, Zoltan Szenics for some interesting background information, and especially to David Yampol and his family for allowing me to pester them with questions and allowing me the opportunity to write about Barry Yampol.

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Dona Lee Leicht

Dona Lee Leicht and her husband, Wayne, have owned and operated Kristalle in Laguna Beach, California, since 1974.