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During his life, Jim sought recognition which seems to be one of the reasons that people who get recognition, get recognition. Some sort of one-to-one relationship there. I didn’t -and guess what- I haven’t. But whatever the reason, he received an inordinate amount of attention and recognition for a paleontologist. Do you ever recall seeing another paleontologist honored in any way? On a talk show? On a news show? He did all of those things, and more than once. The greatest amount of publicity was in print media, newspapers and magazines.
I’ve wondered about it, and conjecture that one of the reasons he sought recognition was perhaps a search for something to salve an insecurity he had, a lack of validation needed during formative years that resulted in a sense of insecurity. Several times he recounted a bitter experience in his teen years where his dad failed to defend him in a high school altercation. In another instance he got in trouble with “the law” on his motorcycle, and again, his dad did nothing to help or comfort Jim. He had been advised by Samuel, “you get into trouble alone, you get out of trouble alone.” Pretty bleak outlook on things. Public recognition came in various ways,
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