How there is No Colored Tourmaline Left on Elba and How I Managed to Find Some

摘要

It all started about ten years ago when my-wife, the lovely Lisa, and I took a trip to Italy. As we were heading down south towards Rome, I casually mentioned how cool it would be to go to Elba where colored tourmaline was first classified, hence the name elbaite. Fast forward 10 years to my 50th birthday and off we go, courtesy of Lisa and my friends Robby and Stacey who own a villa in Cortona. The first thing I did was contact Dr. Federico Pezzotta, the famous Italian mineralogist, curator of the Milan museum. Finally, when we were in Italy, in Cortona preparing to go to Elba, an email was forwarded to Robby's computer from Dr. Pezzotta informing me that although he was unable to join us, a student of his, Emanuele, would be happy to come if we would be willing to cover his expenses. And he has a jackhammer.