[Americangrams]

I reached out to Mr.Murdock more than a year ago. He had not been active in the groups, on Facebook nor was he breeding or really growing tomatoes anymore. He had lost most all of his seeds but most graciously sent me some of his original Captain Lucky seeds to grow out. I promised him fresh seeds in return. What he didn’t know, at that time, was that I had been researching and collecting other varieties known to have some connection to him. Either bred by or stabilized by him. My intention was to return as much of his collection as I could find to him. At first he probably was mistrustful of me and my intentions, yet he did send me his precious seeds for which I feel most honored. But over time we established a friendship, as he watched my progress this past summer growing many of his tomatoes, he got excited if I had the correct one, and would promptly tell me if I did not. He became more engaged with the process of me finding the ones that were eluding me. Have you found this one, or that one he would say. When I finally got in my possession two of his original seeds of Angel Heart, which he had been asking about, he said...”oh that one is a beauty alright, but not much on taste”. That was hilarious Mr. Murdock. Another one that I tracked down he told me that it originally had a different name but his friend who loved the tomato couldn’t pronounce it, so he changed the name just for him. So if you have a Spruce Goose in your collection, please let me know. I feel so privileged to have gotten to know Mr. Murdock. I will miss our talks. As I was preparing this year’s seeds to mail to him, he messaged me to wait because he was in hospital. Just wait til I’m back home he said. But he never made it there. But to answer Karen’s question, off of the top of my head, some varieties attributed to Millard are: Captain Lucky, Captain Lucky White, Sandburg, Serendipity, Rozella, DB Cooper, Black Mamba, Black Magic, Muddy Mamba, Esmeralda Paste, Martha Logan, Sweet Linda, Sweet as Linda, Abraham Green, Abraham Brown, Georgia Green and Georgia Brown. I haven’t found Georgia brown, if you have it, please let me know. Stutzman Black, General Lee, First Mate and Firstmate bicolor. I think that’s all that I can remember without looking at my notes. Oh, and Angel Heart. Millard’s contributions to the tomato world are tremendous, I will continue curating the collection, even though I will not get to send it to him. Rest In Peace dear Mr. Murdock