Today is a great day. A heroic day. Today, a life is being saved.
Today the enormous generosity of an individual and the spontaneous charity of a community of independent individuals have come together for a cause greater than themselves.
Today, I am proud to be a part of the Taxidermy Industry.
Forty years ago, when Michael P. Schlabach was born, Harry Paulson was already making his living as a professional taxidermist.
These men didn't know each other until last year, but both of their lives have played out as public figures in our industry.
Harry has been a major force in the advancement of taxidermy education. He owned and operated Mountain Valley School of Taxidermy in Arizona for many years, served several terms on the Board of Directors of the National Taxidermists Association, written articles for all of the trade publications, judged the earliest taxidermy competitions, served as seminar coordinator for the World Taxidermy Championships, and has been a standout performer singing Elvis songs at the WTC wind-down party.
Michael P. has been among the first of the new breed of "internet taxidermists", with the most intimate details of his life played out for all to see. His tragic personal destruction from addiction and his subsequent rehabilitation and revival has been followed closely by Forum readers. We rejoiced with Michael and Miranda at their online wedding here on the Taxidermy.Net. Michael's huge heart was known by many, but with this lastest stunt he took all of us by surprise.
Almost one year ago to the day, George Roof let us know of Harry's dire health problems in this post:
http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/topic,171163.0.html. Within two hours, Michael P. had sent a private message to George which set into motion the miracle that has now come to fruition.
Besides the awesome selflessness of Michael's act, this couldn't have been possible without the amazing way our community came together to support him. The spontaneous generosity through the auctions and donations which popped up all over the Taxidermy.Net Forum have funded the additional costs associated with this transplant and recovery. Every person who donated shares in this triumph. We should all be proud.
Right now, 7:30 a.m. Pacific time, transplant surgery is underway for Harry and Michael. Miranda will be contacting me with updates from the hospital which I will post here as soon as I receive them.
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