Mary Mendum (n閑 Bates) - born 1st April 1945, died 13th February 2004

摘要

Mary died after a short, cruel illness which she bore with great fortitude even to the point of completing a botanical paper. This has devastated her family, colleagues and friends. She was known to the orchid fraternity in the UK for her superb illustrations and her cheerful, helpful presence during the 14th World Orchid Conference (WOC) in Glasgow in 1993 and at some British Orchid Council shows. I met Mary in August 1982 at the Scottish Field Studies Centre, Kindrogan, where Dr Christopher Grey-Wilson, then at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was giving the second of a series of annual courses on botanical art. Kindrogan was always good fun as well as the sharing of knowledge and experience. In the early years the old stable yard was often full ofducks, hens, roosters and a couple of peacocks and when the weather was good we lunched outside - a risky business, for if one was not careful a sandwich could disappear between hand and mouth, consumed by a hungry fowl! If the puddles in the yard ran dry, someone was usually on hand with a bucket to refill them again for the ducks!