Re: FW: Tribute to Dan from Bruce Schumacher

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

Rescued from truncation.

I especially like this paragraph:

"His legacy will endure as instrument in giving us what remain our most insp=
iring glimpses of the Cretaceous marine realm.  And several of his rather p=
rophetic paintings and attention to anatomical details have now become acce=
pted science  -  tail bends and forked tongues in mosasaurs, intraspecific =
competition amongst various marine reptilians, and predator-prey relationsh=
ips amongst sharks, bony fishes, reptiles both swimming and flying, and bir=
ds."

====================================================

Dr. Jane  P. Davidson
Professor of History of Art
University ofNevada, Reno
Reno, NV  USA  89557
775-784-6561
fax 775-784-6655

From: jdhexen@aol.com [mailto:jdhexen@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2012 11:30 AM
To: Jane P Davidson
Subject: Fwd: Tribute to Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Everhart<mike@oceansofkansas.com>
To: Jane Davidson<Jdhexen@aol.com>; Jane P. Davidson<jdhexen@unr.edu>
Sent: Wed, Jan 4, 2012 10:43 am
Subject: Tribute to Dan
Jane,

Could you post this on the VertPaleo and DML servers on behalf of Bruce Sch=
umacher... one of Dan's closest friends...

Thanks,
Mike
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

Following up on Luis Rey's suggestion, I would like to be the first to post=
 a tribute to Dan Varner.

Thanks,
Bruce Schumacher

---------------------------------

What to say about Dan - or as he called himself, little Danny Varner.

I've encountered few people that exude the sort of kindness Dan possessed.
He was a private person, but had an intense passion for people around him.
Dan's personality includes a pleasant mixture of Mel Blanc, Stan Laurel and=
 your best friend from primary school.

Dan was an accomplished paleontological field collector, and knew as much a=
bout historical geology, stratigraphy and paleoecology as those with degree=
s.
  He was a wonderful blues guitarist, and a lover of modern wildlife more s=
o than the prehistoric beasts we've come to associate his work with.

Funny thing about talented people, often they are reluctant to show off cer=
tain gifts.  Dan would chunk out a guitar diddy at the drop of a hat, but a=
sking him to quickly produce anything seriously artistic on paper was just =
short of impossible.  If the subject matter were a fun or silly doodle, the=
n fine.  Some of my fondest memories are staying up late, taking turns draw=
ing on a pad and passing back and forth humorous roughly hewn cartoons, mos=
t with some sort of hidden reference to historical paleontological people a=
nd events, and waiting for the other to guess the context and laugh.  I've =
shed as many tears related to laughter in my life largely due to those even=
ings giggling over doodles.

But anything professionally artistic and a different part of Dan would swit=
ch on.  He was incredibly serious, deliberate, and meticulous about his oil=
 painting, even the rough sketches leading to his final work.  This is why =
the images he brought to life are so 'real'  - his level of commitment towa=
rd each piece would often never allow them to be quite finished, but merely=
 resigned as 'done enough'.  Seeing certain of his rough draft sketches for=
 the first time in many different variations would be exhilarating, many of=
 them looked ready for publication.  I quickly learned however not too comm=
ent often on how much I liked them - bring concept drawings to Dan's attent=
ion in a positive way and he would wad them up and chuck them in the bin.

And in the end, what a truly lovely person.  Being around Dan made you unco=
nsciously focus your personality toward the better part of yourself.  That =
is perhaps Dan's greatest gift - he brought out the best in others.

His legacy will endure as instrument in giving us what remain our most insp=
iring glimpses of the Cretaceous marine realm.  And several of his rather p=
rophetic paintings and attention to anatomical details have now become acce=
pted science  -  tail bends and forked tongues in mosasaurs, intraspecific =
competition amongst various marine reptilians, and predator-prey relationsh=
ips amongst sharks, bony fishes, reptiles both swimming and flying, and bir=
ds.
 Though I'm sure Dan would say all of this is attributable to historical re=
search and the work of Charles R. Knight.

See ya' someday Danny!

Bruce