Main | Family List (MO) | Family List (INBio) | Cutting Edge Draft Treatments | Guidelines | Checklist | Citing | Editors The Cutting Edge Volume XXIX, Number 3, July 2022 News and Notes | Leaps and Bounds | Germane Literature | Season's Pick | Global Range Extensions SAD NEWS. It is our unfortunate obligation to report the premature passing, on 19 May, of former Manual collector Abelardo Chacón Gamboa (b. 1959). Abelardo first got his feet wet as a participant on one of Gerrit Davidse’s NGS-funded Cordillera de Talamanca expeditions in 1984. His heyday on the Manual project was 1989–1990, when he had free rein and collected in some of the most remote and interesting parts of Costa Rica. Before and after that brief stint, he ventured into the field on innumerable occasions, accompanying many other collectors including his older brother, entomologist Isidro Chacón Gamboa, as well as María Marta Chavarría, José González, Manual co-PI’s Barry Hammel and Nelson Zamora, Quírico Jiménez, Carlos O. Morales, and Rafael Robles. He also assisted visiting specialists, including Roy Gereau (Sapindaceae), Donald R. Hodel (Arecaceae), and Charlotte M. Taylor (Rubiaceae). During the final decades of his life, Abelardo was involved in the construction and installation of canopy platforms, zip-lines, and other projects tapping into the lucrative ecotourism market. It was during one such operation, in the region of Peñas Blancas de San Ramón, that he passed unexpectedly—in the forest, as surely he would have wanted it. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Abelardo’s family (and especially his son Marcial David Chacón Venegas). We also learned, belatedly, of the 2019 passing of Margaret B. Gargiullo (b. 1942). Somewhat of a late bloomer in botany (she obtained her Ph.D., from Rutgers University, in 1991), Margaret inevitably ended up in Costa Rica (doesn’t everyone?), where she collected in various parts of the country and ultimately produced A field guide to plants of Costa Rica (2008), featuring abundant photos by Barbara Magnuson and Larry Kimball [see The Cutting Edge 15(2): 6–7, Apr. 2008]. While we do not keep close tabs on such things, we would imagine that books of this sort must be relatively profitable (compared with, say, the Manual!). Although we assisted in the production of her book, we were never in the field with Margaret. We salute her for a life well lived.   TOP