Belated birthday wishes to you, Eric. You continue to remind us of George Will's comment about the standouts of professional baseball: "Some men are like mountains: The closer you get to them, the bigger they become."

During the years Ruth Hill was active, virtually until the day she died, I was in constant contact with her. She lived in a large apartment in St. Louis. Much of the time we dealt with International Bank Note Society (IBNS) business, but there was also considerable discussion about the world paper money catalog originated by Dr. Arnold Keller, and which she eventually purchased from Whitman. Several sections were published under auspices of the IBNS.

On two occasions I took one or the other of my 9 or 10-year-old young boys (now almost 52 and 50 years old) on a combined trip to see her and spend some time at Six Flags (or whatever the big amusement park was named). After we returned from the amusement park we three would meet Eric for dinner- and invariably the boys would fall asleep at the table!

In 1974 Eric sent me a small round rubber blank "coin" that he said was used as a 1c substitute in St.Louis; this was during the time of the so-called "penny shortage" when several pieces of 1c scrip were issued. We had a kindred interest in those pieces.

In 1985 I sent Eric a Presentation Copy of my depression scrip book. His poetic response is illustrated.

I wish Eric the very best always.