In February os 2021 the Taxidermy Hall of Fame board of directors held a Zoom meeting during which it accepted and approved seven nominations for consideration of being voted into the THOF. It was decided that there will be two historical nominees elected and two contemporary nominees elected. Nominees that are considered historical are those who are being recognized mainly for their contributions to taxidermy 50 years before the current year election date, which in this case is 1971. After a screening vote by the eighteen-member selection committee, there were two historical nominees: Sinclair Clark and Herman H. ter Meer. Contemporary nominees are those who established their stature around and after 1971. After the initial screening vote, the contemporary nominees were: Jan Van Hoesen, Harry Paulson, Rodney Schreurs, Stefan Savides, and Terence Coffin Grey.
The final voting by the nine-member executive committee took place in May and the results were announced in June 2021 at the Texas Taxidermy Association convention. The two historical inductees were Sinclair Clark and Herman H. ter Meer. The contemporary inductees were Harry Paulson and Terence Coffin Grey. The induction ceremony was held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the annual National Taxidermists Association annual convention on July 24, 2021
The Chairman of the Taxidermy Hall of Fame, Larry Blomquist of Louisiana, started the program off by thanking the National Taxidermists Association for this venue and time to honor and induct the 2021 newly elected members of the Taxidermy Hall of Fame.
Before moving forward to our inductions, Larry acknowledged the recent passing on July 5, of the long time chairman of this honored organization, Rod Connelly of Pennsylvania. It was Rod who keep this Hall of Fame viable for nearly two decades and passed forward its future to the current board of directors.
Terrence Coffin-Grey
THOF Board of Director Ken Edwards of Georgia came on stage to introduce the first contemporary inductee, Terrence Coffin-Grey of South Africa. Terence Coffin-Grey is now 92 and is a highly regarded commercial and museum taxidermist serving museums and sportsmen in both Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa. His acceptance video was prepared by his daughter Cathy Peacock and is included below.
Harry Paulson
Next, Harry Paulson was officially inducted into the Taxidermy Hall of Fame by THOF Chairman Larry Blomquist. Unable to travel due to health concerns, Harry recorded an acceptance speech to be played during the induction ceremony. Harry’s wife, Carol, shot the video and his daughter, Tami Austin, edited it. The video is included below.
Herman H. ter Meer
Next, THOF Board of Director Ken Edwards of Georgia came on stage to induct the first of the two historical inductees. Herman H. ter Meer, a Dutch taxidermist, born December 16, 1871 in Leiden, Netherlands. He died March 9, 1934 in Leipzig, Germany. He is often referred to as the “European Akeley” by European taxidermists because, even though Carl E. Akeley was some years older, Herman developed his own technique for making manikins and was a pioneer of modern Taxidermy methods like Akeley.
Sinclair Clark
Finally, Sinclair Clark was officially inducted into the Taxidermy Hall of Fame by THOF Chairman Larry Blomquist. Diane Patrick, Sinclair Clark’s granddaughter, requested that Sinclair’s acceptance speech be made by his longtime friend and taxidermy historian, John Janelli of New Jersey. John provided the participants at the banquet with an entertaining and informative speech, the video of which is included below.
Harry Paulson, Terrence Coffin-Grey, Sinclair Clark and Herman H. ter Meer are now part of a special group, joining the other 47 existing Taxidermy Hall of Fame inductees for all time. They were presented with a plaque which read in part, “In recognition of a lifetime of outstanding contributions to the taxidermy industry and significant achievements in advancing the art.”
