The serendipity that led to my listing the home of explorer Barry Bishop is one of the memories that survives the years and gives me pleasure still. I especially enjoy working with buyers and sellers who come to me because someone else who trusts me sends them to me. Friends, neighbors and clients (overlapping groups very often, which I appreciate) take note and tell your friends!
An agent friend in Virginia asked me to go talk to his friends about selling a house in Bethesda. All I knew was their name and address. They were a very interesting couple - as often happens, I wished the sellers were staying in the area. And the house and yard were unique and charming - a wonderfully light and spacious contemporary, filled with interesting things from all over the world.
There were also a lot of National Geographic magazines. As we chatted, I mentioned that I also had a lot of them - every issue going back to 1958, the year we married. That date took the conversation in another direction - both couples had been married for a long, long time. Then we talked about children - like us, they were very proud of their grown children and happy about their lives and circumstances.
Their interest in National Geographics turned out to be far deeper than mine. Barry Bishop was retiring in 1994 from years of work for National Geographic, Vice-President in charge of Research and Exploration. He’d been in the first group of Americans to get to the top of Mt. Everest, and had many other fascinating adventures.
The next day, I checked the cumulative index for articles he’d written, and I had every single one of them. I re-read them all with fascination.
I don't know whether I got the listing because of my marketing presentation or because of the things we had in common, but working with them was a delightful experience.
The house sold quickly and they moved to Montana.
(Ironic footnote: After a life of danger and adventure, they retired to a quiet place in Montana when the house sold. Not long afterward, he died in a car accident, ironic for someone who led such an exciting life.)
After his death in September 1994, in November 1994, the National Geographic Society awarded him the Distinguished Geography Educator award. I was there, fascinated by the memories of his colleagues and friends.
There is another serendipity story associated with this couple, which I will post later, and I did a while ago another National Geographic serendipity involving a young couple.
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