North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[mIEKAL aND <qazingulaza@gmail.com>]

I've been buying seed from John on and off for the past 10 years.  I
always loved reading thru his descriptions on his website.  I sure
hope this work is preserved somehow.

~mIEKAL


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: trenthillsmike <trenthillsca@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 5:54 PM
Subject: [scionexchange] John Gordon Passes
To: scionexchange@yahoogroups.com


John Gordon passed away on August 2 of this year after several months
of being hospitalized. He was recognized as an expert in nut culture
as well as some of the "orphan" fruits including pawpaw and persimmon.
He was an extraordinary nut tree explorer and grower always searching
for new adaptable species of nut trees or cultivars with outstanding
characteristics. His most outstanding attribute was his willingness to
share what he found with everyone who was interested without concern
for credit or remuneration.

John Gordon joined NNGA in the early 1960's with a driving interest in
the American chestnut, an interest that continued throughout his life.
This interest expanded to all other nuts including hickory and pecan.
I met John at my first NNGA meeting in 1968 and we became good friends
from then on.

He was an inaugural member of SONG and attended the first meeting in
October of 1972. He was an enthusiastic, active member for many years.
He was elected as President of SONG, a position he held for several
years. He donated the writing of Nut Growing Ontario Style, the first
handbook of the Society of Ontario Nut Growers.

He was also an active member of the New York branch of the American
Chestnut Foundation as soon as it formed. He assisted wherever he was
asked in the meetings and research work. He also joined the New York
Nut Growers Association as soon as it formed. He actively served both
groups until his death.

He was one of the group responsible for the introduction of the ultra
northern pecans that are successfully growing in eastern North
America. He went into the nettle infested northern Mississippi River
forests several years in a row to find early ripening pecans. He
collected pecan seed nuts and scion wood from these trees. We now have
his colorfully named cultivars like `Deerstand', `Lucas', `Carlson 3'
and `Snaps' because of his efforts. He unselfishly shared all of his
findings with his interested friends. He started the Pecan
Distribution Programme where he sent out thousands of packets of ultra
northern pecans to interested growers all over the USA and Canada for
several years. This project caused the NNGA membership to swell to
record numbers.

He dedicated a large part of his 50 acre farm to the trial plantings
of thousands of seedling and grafted trees with the intention of
introducing new cultivars of nut trees. His outstanding contributions
of `Imshu', `Locket' and `Stealth' are a few of the heartnut
selections he made. His nut tree nursery supplied numerous growers
with seedling and grafted trees, as well as seed nuts and scion wood
for many years.

His interests also turned to the fruiting trees that NNGA members
adopted including pawpaw's and persimmons. He introduced and tested
several selections of both of these fruits including his own persimmon
introduction `Geneva Long' recently renamed `Gordon' by the Grimo Nut
Nursery.

John will be sorely missed to all those who knew him. A remembrance
was held on August 3 and his ashes were spread over his Amherst
property by his daughter Katie Gordon on August 10.

Ernie Grimo in S.O.N.G News Sept 2012



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