Alan Hart & Ann Fraizer Talk for the Tucson Gem & Fine Mineral Show 2026

For those in the know, the names Si and Ann Frazier were as inseparable as “peanut butter and jelly.” They were world-renowned mineral experts specializing in Quartz in all its varieties, as well as prolific authors of over two hundred articles for magazines such as Lapidary Journal, Rocks & Minerals, Gems & Gemology, Mineralogical Record, and more.

Wandering throughout Europe in the early ’60s in a VW Bug, they gathered and shipped over seven tons of rocks and minerals back to the States during that time and subsequently opened their own mineral shop in Berkeley, California, in 1964. For nearly 60 years, they traveled together acquiring minerals, setting up at mineral shows, writing article after article, teaching mineralogy at colleges, sharing their knowledge, and encouraging new mineral collectors of all ages.

Si passed away in February 2020, but Ann is still going strong – even putting together a 50-mineral case exhibit at the 2022 East Coast Mineral Show. Join us this afternoon as Alan Hart, former Director of the Natural History Museum, London, sits down with Ann for a “Hart to Heart” conversation about her past, about Quartz, and about the future of mineral collecting.

This is the first in an ongoing series of “Hart to Heart” interviews, brought to you exclusively by the Tucson Fine Mineral Gallery.