Barry I read your post with great interest. Maybe I am just an old guy (which I am) but I miss th days when it was a great joy to spread the word of something you knew through the hobby.
I remember sitting for hours listening to John England tell me about various T & E sets. In the mid-70s I was collecting several tennis sets and I wrote to Edgar Tigar-Wharton and he not only responded quickly but sent me checklists of everything he had on tennis which I shared with anyone that asked for years.
I read your baseball book article in VCBC and was thrilled that the subject was broached. I scan this site daily hoping to see some book news from Max or someone else. My post on the Putnam series a couple of years ago did elicit quite a few great responses.
I do remember encountering several "I know more than you do" characters in the hobby in the 1980s but then again that was the era that really brought out many people that I did not enjoy being around at shows. That is probably the main reason I left it for more than a decade.
I too have had many things I have researched and written be used in print without credit, especially on deadball era spring training. Big deal, the word is out and I am sure that 99 out of every 100 baseball books ever printed do not make the author any money.
The fellowship whether it be face to face or electronic is much more valuable to me.
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