Dealers (or fellow collectors) who lit the fire

[Griffins]

In about '73 Merv Williams, a dealer that lived a few blocks from me in Santa Monica, ran an ad looking for collectors to join a newly formed card club that met in Garden Grove. 2 friends and I responded, and for the next 2 years Merv drove us down there with him every month and never accepted a dime in gas money. I don't know what happened to him (he was pretty hard to miss, as he only had 1 leg) but one of the nicest guys I've ever met, in or out of the hobby.

At those shows there were a few that were very generous with their time, knowledge and cards- Tom Tuttlemeyer, Dan Miller, Gavin Riley, and Jim Nowell stand out in my mind. I've yet to run into any of them in the 9 years I've been back in the hobby, does anyone know if any of them are still active?