AusBonsai

Hi gang,
when reading about an old Australian bonsai exponent Ian Edward's on Craig's banksia thread, I thought perhaps we should have a dedicated section on Australian pioneer bonsai exponents that have passed away.

Well heres a few suggestions - Max Candy, Vita Koreshoff , Ron Andersen,Jack Tripovitch, Ian Edwards, Max Laversha, Nell Saffin, and maybe Jeff Ackland and Reverend Ross Lloyd. I'm sure there are about half a dozen more.
I think I can cover Mr Andersen's and Tripovitch's bio well, but if anyone can post on some of the others it may be of interest.

Brian Carroll

Great suggestion Brian,
I have heard the names and seen some of their creations but they well deserve to have their work catalogued in some way
Record keeping is becoming easier but history needs to be shared before it is lost.
I would love to see some photos and stories that people are able to share.

The wiki would be a great place for that info. Can be edited and appended by others then.

Totally agree, I have to be honest, I haven't heard of half of those names, which to me says we should be documenting their efforts and contributions to the world of bonsai. I dont think we should limit it to bonsai masters who have passed, how about current contributors at the top level of the Australian scene? And what about masters from other countries? I admit, it would be wise to document Australian history first and foremost, however, I often hear names of famous masters yet know little of their contributions, and how they changed the scene if at all . Kimura is the exception to that though

I think it best to list the deceased bonsai exponents firstly, then current masters at a later date. There is so much information I received from some of these people before they passed away that should be documented here. I am grateful for Lindsay and Grant for floating the idea.

Brian wrote:I think it best to list the deceased bonsai exponents firstly, then current masters at a later date. There is so much information I received from some of these people before they passed away that should be documented here. I am grateful for Lindsay and Grant for floating the idea.

I'd be grateful for any info you more senior bonsai growers can share with us, as this is the aussie site we should endevour to learn as much as possible about early australian bonsai growers,. are you going to give us the first post Brian ?

Well I would prefer if Craig W ,Grant and Lindsay piped in first and I will add my comments later.

Brian C

If it can be started as a new thread , we'll get Steven to make it a sticky, thanks

Wiki will be a great place for these

I am not a journo but quite happy to collate info and post up as a wiki page

Ken

Sounds like a good idea to post and collate the info, check dates etc.

Grant

thanks Brian for getting this started. Great idea and certainly needs to get underway. Thanks also to those who floated the idea with you: Lindsay and Grant.

The wiki seems like the best place for this kind of data gathering and easy to find there.

It would help those who eventually will read these if there was some basic structure. Not that every entry needs to follow it rigorously, but it helps if there is a basic framework of questions with open-ended areas for knowledge to flow as it comes to hand.

Some headings could be:
* Name
* relevant dates: birth, death, years when bonsai active (in plant taxonomy at least, the latter is referred to by 'fl.' for 'flourished'. For example 'fl. 1974-1985' would mean that they were primarily active in bonsai during those years; compare that to the birth/death dates of e.g. '1935-2005'.)
* Place or places: where born, where lived during major period of bonsai work
* Particularly remembered for: (e.g. work with particular species; bonsai classes; personality; bonsai nursery etc)
* Photographs: of person, of their bonsai or other bonsai related works (e.g. pots, stands, exhibition organised)
* Publications: things they published, primarily about bonsai, but could include other articles or books they published
* Publications: where to find published material about the person
* Awards:
* Positions held in bonsai organisations
* Club(s) they belonged to
* Significant travels relevant to bonsai
* Other notes about the person.

Clearly not every heading needs an entry to get started for a person on the list, but having the list helps to focus the search for information. Others may have suggestions to improve the list...

As I noted on my June 22nd, 2010 post on the Dorothy Koreshoff et al thread (viewtopic.php?f=27&t=53 ),

For those so interested in these things, the following biographical material sums up the various posts I've found here and elsewhere for a few Australian teachers of the past.

Dorothy Koreshoff, Jan. 28, https://www.phoenixbonsai.com/Days/DaysJan.html ;
Leonard "Lenny" Webber, Dec. 23, https://www.phoenixbonsai.com/Days/DaysDec.html ;
Max Candy, Dec. 16, https://www.phoenixbonsai.com/Days/DaysDec.html .

I am happy to archive information on these and other teachers, such as John Lucas, Tom Cochrane, Max Leversha, P.G. Moore, Ron Andersen, Frank Hocking, Jack Tripovitch, Ian Edwards, Nell Saffin, Jeff Ackland, and Reverend Ross Lloyd as part of our Bonsai Book of Days project.

Ideally, we need at least a month and year that some event (birth, death, club founding, first show, demo/lecture, etc.) happened which one or more of these teachers was involved with. A specific date is always appreciated. All of the forum members are welcome to contribute, either in one of these threads, in a wiki, or directly to me, rjb@phoenixbonsai.com .

The tantalizing traces which I've seen in these threads encourages me to encourage each of you to take a few moments now to jot down some memories, look up some old notes and newsletters, reminisce with fellow club members in order to save these important data of our mutual interest history. I applaud your enthusiasm for this. Unfortunately, not many of us around the globe care to help preserve the past threads of this tapestry.

And my online material is always available for sharing (with proper credit given).

Cordially,

Robert J. Baran
Bonsai researcher and historian

Thanks for this Robert, I will pm you with all the information I have for you to collate into proper order.

Oh, and one more piece of information that will be most valuable to those down the time-line reading what you provide is:
* Where did you get your information from?

Sources can be things like:
* I knew the person for XX years/months/ I met them at... and this is what I gleaned from them, or
* I got the information from talking with one or more people (names) who knew the person/ worked with the person..., or
* I got the information from a published source (reference to that source), or
* I got the information from unpublished material (letters, notes, etc obtained from - name source(s)).

It will happen from time to time, that third person accounts of someone's life, coming from different people, will tell different stories. Knowing where each account comes from can help readers assess how to deal with such conflicts.

Much appreciate your interest too, Robert B. I think having the local material on the AusBonsai wiki and also on your pages of the phoenixbonsai website will provide a degree of backup in case of an unforeseen loss at the 'other' site.

As a belated update to my Feb. 24, 2012 post, please note that my active history research can now be found at www.magiminiland.org, no longer the previous phoenixbonsai.com. I am still interested in getting information as suggested in this thread. And my Bonsai Book of Days index (https://www.magiminiland.org/Days/DaysIndex.html) indicates I currently have the following: Australian Teachers, Artists and Patrons, Jan 20, Jan 28, Mar 4, Jun 1, Jun 8, Jun 17, Aug 6, Aug 9, Aug 15, Aug 24, Aug 31, AugAlso, Sep 28, Oct 1, Oct 26, Oct 31, Nov 19, Nov 22, NovAlso, Dec 16, Dec 23.