Closing In On Fifty Years
Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 23rd, 2010
I have to come to grips with the fact that next month’s date of March 20th will be my unofficial, official 50th anniversary of being involved with cryptozoology. I’m giving tours that day, at the museum, but I will have to set aside a moment or two to reflect on what it all means.
Casually, curiously, and unconsciously, I strolled into being a cryptozoologist after watching Half Human, reading Charles Fort (don’t forget, he has some great sections on sea serpents), Bernard Heuvelmans, and Ivan T. Sanderson.
Life choices were made, from what I read to where I went to school, from what I would write to where I would live, based on cryptozoology, oftentimes.
No doubt about it, my sons have always been my first priority, more than they may ever know, but in the background, between living baseball, taking them to Loch Ness, working with suicide prevention, teaching/researching at a university, making media and more, has been cryptozoology.
Based upon my museum’s chief docent’s advice and the fact I couldn’t become an administrator on either the International Cryptozoology Museum or Cryptomundo Facebook sites without joining up, I made the leap yesterday into that world. Oh, and I had a restless previous night, too, after seeing Crazy Heart, but that’s another kettle of giant squid, altogether. Additionally, I’m in another retro journey of sorts, with my Decatur, Illinois, graduating class of MacArthur High School, 1965, trying to set up a class reunion – and my hearing from a lot of old names without familiar faces any longer. There’s also all those faces I see in my mind’s eye and I can’t remember the names.
Facebook perhaps is a bit more personal that I was prepared for it to be, but everyone seems to be having fun with the window it allows into one’s world. However, I was not ready for all the Facebook “Friend Requests,” so day #1 was a learning experience. It all seems a whirl.
The plus side has been the instant reinforcement of hearing from family, some of their friends, and even some of mine who have used FB as an adventure of immediate communication. Little did I know.
Anyway, plugging in all that info, I was reminded that IMDb’s outdated listings on me still automatically notes when I am going to be on television. I don’t watch myself, unless by accident, so I often can’t tell people to “tune in,” but IMDb’s a way to know when some things will be on.
MonsterQuest, yes. Lost Tapes, In Search Of, Monster Hunters, Twisted Tales, Animal X, History’s Mysteries, okay. But what is this other stuff? Indeed, for me, it reminded me that my cryptozoology interview tidbits have been sliced and diced even into UFO programs, it seems, as per:
Fri. Feb. 26
11:00 PM
TRAV
Weird Travels
Alien Encounters
Sun. Feb. 28
6:00 PM
HISTORY
UFO Files
Deep Sea UFOs: Red Alert #3.9
I really don’t think I am in those programs, but, then again, maybe I am?
Onward to see what the next month brings…while Facebook’s retro-reality hits home.
Obscura Day: March 20, 2010
For more information see here and to sign up, go here.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Yet another reason March 20th is a great day.
Happy March 20th, Loren Coleman… 🙂
You chose Facebook so you wouldn’t have to be my friend on MySpace didn’t you? 😉
Happy anniversary! Watch out for spammers and phishers over there.