Sanborn, William B. (1925-1981 )

William Bigelow ("Bill") Sanborn was born in Pasadena, California on January 3, 1925, the son of Dorothea Gaw (or Gave) and Karl Sanborn, a salesman. When Bill was a boy his family lived next door to a consulting geologist named Arthur Wiggins, who perhaps inspired his first interest in minerals. He married Joan Lyon and they had three daughters: Deborah Lee, Patti and Leone.

He received his BA Degree from Pomona College, his Master's Degree at Claremont College, and his PhD in Education from the University of Washington in Seattle. He taught occasionally at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he also studied mineralogy under Prof. C.D. Woodhouse. Following graduation he took a position as the person in charge of the audio-visual department for the Board of Education of the San Francisco School System. He later transferred to take the same position working for the Newport Beach-Costa Mesa school system.

Sanborn kept his extensive collection mostly in well-organized drawers, and some in display cases. The drawers held pasteboard boxes with labels under the specimens in the traditional manner. Sanborn published a book, Crystal and Mineral Collecting, (1960); it was later reprinted as Handbook of Crystal and Mineral Collecting (1987). He also wrote Oddities of the Mineral World (1976).

William Sanborn died suddenly in Irvine, California on June 28, 1981, while tending his flower garden. Following his death his widow sold his collection to mineral dealer Dave Crawford. She remarried and now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.