Up and Coming Mineral Collector Jingnan “Tom” Zhang: One to Watch

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, Tom Zhang thanks his mom and dad, “who pushed me to learn English, supported my hobby, and took me to shows during my school days—special thanks for their quiet, constant caring. Next, thanks go to my mentors in China: Yishan Zhou and Jianyu Zhang who built the Shanghai Show where I made many friends; to Dr. Guanghua Liu for inviting me to the Huangshi Show where I got my first publicity; and to Zhaoyuan Peng, who encourages the mineral collecting community at home to grow and be more professional. On the Western side, thanks are extended to Rob Lavinsky for everything from mentorship to friendship; to Peter and Allison (Uncle and Auntie) and Lauren Megaw for extending friendship, hospitality, and summer storage opportunities in Tucson; to ‘Big Tom’ Campbell for getting me buffed up in many ways; and to Bob Downs and Hexiong Yang from whom I learned a lot about mineral identification and who showed me that almost nobody can mount a 20–70-micron crystal on a 50-micron-wide glass fiber for X-ray single crystal diffraction! Thanks are also due to the gang at Young Mineral Collectors, the volunteers at Mindat, and the entire Tucson Gem and Mineral Society community. Appreciation is also extended to Alex Schauss for the opportunity to photograph his thumbnail collection for use in publications.”

Peter Megaw thanks Rob Lavinsky for an introduction to Zhang way-back-when and for extending himself in so many ways on Zhang’s behalf. It has been a delight to get to know Zhang and his folks and a pleasure to talk minerals with him at great length.

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Peter K. M. Megaw

Dr. Peter K. M. Megaw, a consulting editor of Rocks & Minerals and longtime exhibits chair for the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, is an exploration geologist and mineral collector who focuses on the geology and minerals of Mexico.