Jim Moore has written a "guide to new and unusual sources of profit, pleasure and sustenance from Florida's fabulous waters". Unlike books produced by authors who write well on most any subject as they have found the key to research by others, Jim speaks from his own experience. While he shares the good results of his trials, he does not burden the reader with the false starts, costly mistakes, days and months of unproductive efforts. His is a book of optimism --- making the best of the hand you are delt and having a good time along the way.
The book is about the harvest of shells from the sea, but it is much more. His description of "Cavalier",his private research boat, is one of love for the boat, the uncharted Gulf of Mexico, the Easter Egg hunt for shells, the companionship of those with whom he worked and the banquets of seafood always available for the taking.
Jim Moore's formal education stopped in his freshman year at the University of Nebraska when he discovered not unlike Benjamin Franklin and William Bartram that he just couldn't get a handle on higher math. Jim is an entrepreneur, finding that his love for the outdooors when combined with shrewd business judgement was more than enough to provide for his growing family. (You may remember the craze of a few years past when hermit crabs became a must have for children for their terrarium. Jim Moore was the source of these millions and millions of small crabs shipped all over the world.)
Mr. Moore's first love was and is the Gulf of Mexico. He can talk for hours about the grassy flats, the rocky clifts and the deep waters of the Continental Shelf (one to two miles deep). In fact he is quick to point out that the Gulf is a balanced ecosystem, for the most part having clean, clear sparkling waters not unlike the South Pacific. He is concerned that the coastline is disgracefully polluted by municipalities, and the "innocents" who bathe, shave, flush toilets, use sink garbage disposals, or wear laundered clothing. (Jim bathes, shaves &c. like the rest of us. But he is aware of the cost to our environment that excesses of man have inflicted.>
Because of his some 50 year at sea collecting his precious shells, Jim has earned the respect of those who have made studying shells their academic life. His ability to identify the old and recognize the previously unknown makes him a unique National treasure. Reading his brief book is rewarding as it encourages young and old, those with years of education and those who have little, the physically capable and those handicaped in some way or another, to look around. See what God and nature have provided and yes it's "There for the Taking".
The following is a taken from his description of the Pen shell. "At times, thousands of live pen shells are to be found lying loose on the bottom of Tampa Bay --- . They are not securely fastened into the sand in an upright position by their buried anchor rope made of fine, golden strands (bysus) as is normal for this shell. They were probably uprooted by swift currents cutting away the sand and perhaps some, by large conchs who simply plow them out. The strands of this golden rope are manufactured by glands located in the foot of the mollusk at the pointed end of the shell. The pen shell is anchored in this manner as a protection against being dislodged by strong currrents, wave action, or predators. If dislodged, the shell may continue to live for years lying flat on its side, but in this unnatural position it becomes more vulerable to enemies and also might be washed ashore high and dry during storms if living in unsheltered waters near a beach.
Some shell books explain how the golden threads of bysus or anchor rope can be combed and then woven into a very fine and expensive cloth known to the ancients as "Cloth of Gold."
The white muscle of the pen shell resembles that of the north Atlantic deep sea scallop in appearance and taste but is not as tender and has a tendency to separate into smaller pieces while cooking. The pen shell is more apt to be enjoyed as a delicious chowder."
Jim Moore's observations of the shells and their environment is not unlike William Bartrams's. However, his writing are not those of a poet or artist which Bartram surely was, but of a person who every day discovers the joy of living and wants to explain to those who will listen, in a manner in which they can understand.
Jim Moore as a student at the University of Nebraska met Grayson Mead. Grayson was to become the husband of Dorthy Cook (daughter of James E. Cook) and he, Dorthy and Jim became life long friends. Correspondence between Jim and the Meads covers some fifty years of their lives, their troubles and tribulations. Jim visited the Cook ranch at Agate Springs, Nebraska and helped as a "bone digger" in recovering fossils of the area. One might want to read Dorthy's father, J. E. Cook's book on the settlement of the area along with his reminescences of how things were on the "old frontier".
I highly recommend the book --- There for the Taking by Jim Moore, Hazlett Printing and Publishing, Inc. St. Petersburg, Fl 33712.
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For more on naturalist, in particular William Bartram.