Candidates for the HOF (although it would be better if somebody just wrote a book about all of this).
John Stommen and Dan Dishley. I remember hobby papers when I was a kid, they were done on the cheap and mailed out in this haphazard fashion. Terrible. Stommen and Dishley changed all that.
There are a lot of pioneers: You have to start with Burdick, the daddy of them all, but there are a number of guys, "Greatest Generation" types, whom most people wouldn't remember, like Buck Barker, Frank Nagy, Wirt Gammon and Elwood Scharf, who were the heart of collecting when it was pretty much underground. They always had time for novice collectors. "Come over," Nagy would say, "Come and look at my junk."
Ernie Harwell, who saved EVERYTHING, and then donated it to a library.
Lew Lipset published a smart newsletter and a reference book. He has most likely forgotten more about cards than the rest of us will ever know.
Goody Goldfadden probably had the longest running retail shop, which should count for plenty, and...
How about Brian Brusokas, the FBI agent who helped clean up the "hobby" in the 21st century.
It would be a good idea to keep out jocks and the shameless self promoters who made a lot of money but didn't add much to the conversation.
lumberjack
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