A lovely letter from David Elliott, the brilliant founder of the Catesby Center at the University of South Carolina

David Elliott 5:42 PM (13 minutes ago) to me, Tom, LISA, BETH, Elizabeth, Michael Graham, Your continuing efforts on behalf of the Mark Catesby Centre continue to be greatly appreciated. Your donation through your auction very helpfully obtained $7,000. And my solicitation of a long term supporter has resulted in a commitment for $5,000 (and possibly more) in addition to her gift earlier this year, So we’ve made a decent start. And Tom and I are working on additional possibilities. What can I do to help you build support for the Centre with your September auction. One possibility would be for you to circulate this video to your clients: https://vimeo.com/371168660. However, if it’s not current enough I can try to have produced a short video clip about the Centre’s work. We’re working on a virtual visit to the Centre for mid-November so possibly this could be worked in as part of this project. Your willingness to do a book signing fundraiser is also very much appreciated. Will have to work out what can be done as more develops on the Covid-19 front, since at this point, New York won’t allow in anyone from South Carolina. The Curious Mister Catesby can certainly be available. We’d have to see what could be done with Mark Catesby’s Natural History: An Introduction (which we’re moving to a new publisher) and Mark Catesby’s Legacy: Natural history then and now. If you’re thinking of the new book we’re writing, while we’re making good progress, but the depth of the research involved means it won’t be published for at least another 18 months. Incidentally, if you’re interested in receiving periodic activity reports, like the couple I’ve sent you recently, I’d be glad to add you to our advisory committee. Best wishes David J. Elliott, FLS Director, Mark Catesby Centre University of South Carolina 3245 Glenn McConnell Parkway, Unit 217 Charleston, SC 29414 843/768-9966 davidmep@bellsouth.net