Sad news - John Pilbeam

[ralphrmartin]

I still have many cacti and succulents acquired from him as small plants many years ago, as well as most of his books. The earlier ones had much good common sense and information in them; the later ones included useful reference collections of photos. He made a huge contribution to the hobby in the UK.

[Aiko]

Sad news indeed.
Have only had a very short chat with him during the occasions he had visited ELK with his books stand a few years ago. And of course I do have a good number of the books he wrote. Unfortunate that the very interesting line of books on all sorts of succulent genera will not be continued.

[Chris in Leeds]

So sad and such a loss to the hobby he was a font of knowledge and his books
R.I.P. JOHN condolences to his family and friends

[David Neville]

Heart breaking news. I have known JP since the late 1970s, and travelled to Mexico with him , Bill Weightman and Derek Bowdery on several occasions. John, Derek and I also went to Holland and Belgium together many times.
All three of these close friends are now gone, and I will never forget the good times.

[TomInTucson]

This is indeed very sad news. RIP John.
John was my mentor and friend from the early 1980s and taught me so much about 'all things Mammillarias' and many other succulent plants.
His knowledge and sage advice will be sorely missed but will live on through his numerous literary contributions.

I will remenber him most from my early contacts with him and the way he inspired me and fostered my interest in succulent plants, so this photo for me will sum up those interactions and memories:


JP Sept 1986.jpg

Nice photo of John. Of the many succulent plant conventions that I've attended, I regrettably never got the chance to hear him speak.

I read through the comments on the passing of this true legend of our global community, and although his succulent books were acknowledged for their many fine qualities, no one (thus far) has mentioned the 2 best books possibly ever published on their subjects. The two subjects: Mammillaria and Echeveria.

His book on Echeveria, is not only packed with nearly all of the appropriate data, it also has the best photos. of any book ever published on this subject, of which good photos are almost vital to finding a correct ID. RIP

[Tina]

RIP John, sadly missed.
Totally agree with Tom & the many other comments about his contributions to the hobby

[Simon S]

Another titan of the succulent world. Another lovely man. Always happy to chat and impart his advice. Trips to his nursery were always a thrill when I was younger.

He'll be sadly missed.

[eduart2]

Yes, this is very sad news and somehow unexpected despite of his age. His books were always a reference for me. We published back in 2012 in Xerophilia a short interview with John Pilbeam, there was also an intention to cooperate with him, but we've been too busy editing the magazine... We have been helped by Graham Charles who provided us with some photos and by Cristian Suta (he was living in Bournemouth at that time - some of you might remember him - and visited John at Connoisseurs' Cacti).

RIP John Pilbeam!

Eduart

[GregoryBulmer]

A massive loss to the community, a great author and a great man. He'll be truly missed.

[Darren S]

Very sorry to hear this. John was the source of my first cacti - a random selection of Sulcorebutia he kindly put together for me when I was starting out around 25 years ago.

Only three weeks ago I bought a copy of his Opuntias book with Mike Partridge.