I have just learned from Rhoda that Cameron died November 24 after nine years of battling cancer. I was so fortunate to have met Cameron and to have stayed with him and Rhoda in South Africa, to go on a trip to the Eastern Cape led by him, and to have him visit us in California. I remember the first time we met when he was still living in the Eastern Cape. It was September and he had spent a lot of time prior to our trip trying to find anything in flower to show us as this was a summer rainfall area. But Cameron was an expert in more than just flowers. He knew birds and butterflies too. Finally we just enjoyed being with him and seeing the scenery and hearing his stories. Cameron was a renowned consultant for farmers, making regular trips to Australia. A lot of us purchased bulbs and seeds from African Bulbs. Mine are still flowering regularly. He and Rhoda knew the right time to ship and the quality was excellent. Cameron was a very kind and generous man, but also organized with high standards. Going on a trip with him was so special as he would arrange lodging with farmers he knew and take you to places that you were sure to see wonderful things. None of that would have been possible if you had to make your own arrangements. One of our places (first time used by him) was not up to his standards and he cancelled the second night and found us what turned out to be one of the best places we stayed in on our trip and his knowledge of the area was so excellent that he knew an area that had burned the year before and substituted it. It was a great place to botanize. https://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Cameron loved sharing the special places in South Africa and his enthusiasm was contagious. I have so many memories of his kindness to me but one I'll share is that he arranged a special birthday celebration for me on our Eastern Cape trip. We had a very delicious dinner in a cave with candle light in brown bags on long tables. It was magical. And then there was a thunderstorm and we witnessed a real show of lighting and soon rain streaming down in the opening of the cave. It was like he had provided entertainment as well. And there was the time that he sacrificed the cold water he was saving for the end of a day looking for plants and poured it over my head when I was suffering from the very hot day without cover. Cameron found new bulb species, wrote articles for farming journals and botanical groups, gave wonderful slide shows, and shared photos he had taken. There are so many photos of his on the wiki as he sent me CDs taken on his many trips in nature and gave permission to add any I wanted to add. And he was willing to provide information as well if ever I asked. He was also instrumental in saving a large area of the renosterveld in the Overberg. The loss of him and Rod and Rachel in the same year is a big blow to all of us who loved South African bulbs. I'm sure I join many of you in mourning his loss. Mary Sue _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…