Darrell Wright

Following message arrived from Bill Hill this morning.

"I am sad to announce that Darrell Wright, one of the founders of the California Lichen Society and its first Editor of the Bulletin, passed away at his home in Greytown, New Zealand in the afternoon of Saturday, March 24, 2007, after suffering a relapse of cancer which was thought to be in remission in January of this year. This news was conveyed to me by his wife Janet Collinson, whom he had met online when he was living in Arcata CA, and who has been his life companion ever since. Darrell grew up in San Anselmo in Marin County and for years, once he was excited by lichens, scoured the County on weekend lichen jaunts and had probably the most thorough collection and survey of Marin County lichens as anyone. Besides the excitement of discovery and study of lichens in his newfound home in New Zealand with Janet, he was in the process of writing a Lichen Flora of Marin County, a work which will have to be completed by others now. He was also fascinated by the genus Usnea, he had written a synoptic key in FoxPro for Bryoria, and was an advocate of "fingerprinting" lichen species by their chromatograms.
He was a dedicated and enthusiastic lichenologist, first in California, and later in larger circles. We will all miss him greatly."

I never met him, but I know him, because we described a new lichen species together. It was initially called The Mystery Lichen by the people in the Californian Lichen Society, who first discovered it. Darrell and me described it in 2004 and named it Xanthoria pollinarioides in the second volume of the Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. The name was suggested by him, and it fits the lichen perfectly, I think.

I will remember him as a very friendly person who cared for details. Here is something he wrote in one of the emails during that period:
“Xanthoria parietina is certainly weedy here in NZ. I suppose if it was not reported by the early explorers that that would argue for its having been introduced since their time, although, if they do report it, that would not say much about its origin. It might then have been introduced by Captain Cook!”