Robert "Bob" Marx passed over the bar

[Vox veritas]

https://abcblogs.abc.es/espejo-de-n...-marx-cazatesoros-del-patrimonio-iberico.html

 

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[signumops]

Le Challeaux wrote of the massacre, “It is easy enough to defeat an unarmed, bound man who cannot defend himself. Ten dwarves could kill a hundred giants in this same fashion.”

 

[VOC]

Picked up on Facebook from:
Dr E. lee Spence


THE PASSING OF A LEGEND: Sir Robert F. Marx has died. Starting from when I was just 11 or 12, Bob Marx was my hero. I At age 14, I got his mailing address from a mutual friend any the Smithsonian and, without his knowing how young I was, we started writing back and forth. When I was 17, I hitchhiked from Sullivan's Island to Miami to meet him. It was an over 1,100 miles round-trip, but well worth it.

Two or three years later, we were diving together on the Georgiana and some of the other blockade runner wrecks that I had discovered off the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Later the same year, we shared an office in Satellite Beach, Florida and worked on the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet wrecks together.

Bob was an amazing person. He did copious research, and made a great many very important discoveries.

George Bass and I (separately) dove our first shipwrecks in 1959. That was at least three years after I first read of Bob’s research and shipwreck discoveries. Although I had started looking for stuff on land and underwater at ages 4 and 6 respectively, Bob's discoveries and writings were before mine, and they were the biggest reason why I got serious and went into this business.

Because of his early shipwreck work in the 1950s, I have long considered Bob, the true father of modern day underwater archaeology. He was also one of the founders of the Council on Underwater Archaeology and was one of the first people on the board of Sea Research Society. If you have not read his books, “Always Another Adventure” and “Still More Adventures,” I strongly encourage you to do so.

I pray that Bob will rest in peace, and that his place in the advancement of underwater archaeology will be both honored and respected.

PHOTO: The attached photo is one I took of Bob holding one of the many intact beer mugs that we found on the wreck of the Civil War blockade runner Georgiana.

EDITED FROM WIKIPEDIA: Robert F. Marx (born December 8, 1933, died July 4, 2019) is one of the pioneer American scuba divers and is best known for his work with shipwrecks THE PASSING OF A LEGEND: Sir Robert F. Marx has died. Starting from when I was just 11 or 12, Bob Marx was my hero. I At age 14, I got his mailing address from a mutual friend any the Smithsonian and, without his knowing how young I was, we started writing back and forth. When I was 17, I hitchhiked from Sullivan's Island to Miami to meet him. It was an over 1,100 miles round-trip, but well worth it.

Two or three years later, we were diving together on the Georgiana and some of the other blockade runner wrecks that I had discovered off the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Later the same year, we shared an office in Satellite Beach, Florida and worked on the 1715 Spanish treasure fleet wrecks together.

Bob was an amazing person. He did copious research, and made a great many very important discoveries.

George Bass and I (separately) dove our first shipwrecks in 1959. That was at least three years after I first read of Bob’s research and shipwreck discoveries. Although I had started looking for stuff on land and underwater at ages 4 and 6 respectively, Bob's discoveries and writings were before mine, and they were the biggest reason why I got serious and went into this business.

Because of his early shipwreck work in the 1950s, I have long considered Bob, the true father of modern day underwater archaeology. He was also one of the founders of the Council on Underwater Archaeology and was one of the first people on the board of Sea Research Society. If you have not read his books, “Always Another Adventure” and “Still More Adventures,” I strongly encourage you to do so.

I pray that Bob will rest in peace, and that his place in the advancement of underwater archaeology will be both honored and respected.

PHOTO: The attached photo is one I took of Bob holding one of the many intact beer mugs that we found on the wreck of the Civil War blockade runner Georgiana.

EDITED FROM WIKIPEDIA: Robert F. Marx (born December 8, 1933, died July 4, 2019) is one of the pioneer American scuba divers and is best known for his work with shipwrecks and sunken treasure. Although he is considered controversial for his frequent and successful forays into treasure hunting, underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence describes Marx as the true father of underwater archaeology.

Marx became a diving specialist in the United States Marine Corps in 1953. He has since made over 5,000 dives[2] and has authored over 800 reports/articles and 59 books on history, archaeology, shipwrecks and exploration.

Marx and his wife, Jenifer, lived in Indialantic, Florida. They are co-authors of several non-fiction books.

He was a founding member of the Council on Underwater Archaeology and of the Sea Research Society and served on the Society's Board of Advisors. In 1972 he participated in the creation of the research/professional degree of Doctor of Marine Histories.

Marx was made a Knight-commander in the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Spanish government for his re-enactment in the Niña II of Christopher Columbus' first voyage of exploration. and sunken treasure. Although he is considered controversial for his frequent and successful forays into treasure hunting, underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence describes Marx as the true father of underwater archaeology.

Marx became a diving specialist in the United States Marine Corps in 1953. He has since made over 5,000 dives[2] and has authored over 800 reports/articles and 59 books on history, archaeology, shipwrecks and exploration.

Marx and his wife, Jenifer, lived in Indialantic, Florida. They are co-authors of several non-fiction books.

He was a founding member of the Council on Underwater Archaeology and of the Sea Research Society and served on the Society's Board of Advisors. In 1972 he participated in the creation of the research/professional degree of Doctor of Marine Histories.

Marx was made a Knight-commander in the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Spanish government for his re-enactment in the Niña II of Christopher Columbus' first voyage of exploration.

 

[Au_Dreamers]

Just heard yesterday from some salvors.

Sorry for his loved ones.

What a life of adventure!

 

[Tnmountains]

Remind me to invite some of you when I die so that you can come out of the wood work and disrespect me at my memorial !

 

[Darren in NC]

Sometimes things are better left unsaid until an appropriate time, even if it is the truth.

 

[Mackaydon]

When condolences should be offered, some of you have waited till his passing or continue to make degrading comments.
That certainly says something about your in very bad taste character.
Don...

 

[Panfilo]

I may be old fashioned, I know I am, but when I was a child,I was taught to always be polite, respect our elders, and to have regard forother people’s feelings in their moment of grief. It’s really sad to see the lack of manners and respect after the passing of a person who was a friend or if not, at least an inspiration, to most of the individuals in this very specialized forum. His memory and his family are owed this very elementary respect. It’s quite clear that common courtesy has all but died in this forum when people bad mouth somebody who is not with us to present their side of the story, to explain how things happened, the other version of the events. All coins have two sides, all stories have two versions and certainly Bob deservesthe benefit of the doubt, he is not here to tell us anything. There’s an old Spanish saying, “Towers are measured by their shadows, men by their enemies.”,people who leave behind no enemies perhaps didn’t do much with their life. Bob doesn’t need anybody to defend him, he needs the respect of somebody that has departed, he’s earned it.
I have many fascinating stories and anecdotes of my friendship with Bob over the past 35 years, he visited us here several times,the last time 20 years ago, he had serious issues with the 9,000 feet altitude.He was an inspiration to many of us here, he had an incredible sixth sense both in his archival research and while diving, an uncanny ability to see what we all had missed. Bob was a true legend, a pioneer and a very fortunate individual for having had such an adventuresome life full of thrills, of passion for solving the mysteries of the sea, of the stories he had to tell. You lived a great life Bob, it was a pleasure having you as a friend, a true inspiration!

 

[Vox veritas]

We all have virtues and defects. Bob too!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Pkease stop speaking bad of the dead

 

[enrada]

When I said I fought an Admiralty suit against Bob I have proof that he borrowed some bronze spikes from Jim Tolan on Guam so that he could claim he found the Pilar in 1200 feet of water. Ocaneering was one of his investors. He never even had an ROV on Guam. I understand his experience with diving but I know he couldn't dive to 1200 feet. I talked to a person that worked with him on the Flor Del Mar and he admitted that Bob bought the artifacts in an antique shop. Need I say more! Like I said , he sadly lost track of fact from fiction. Facts are appropriate anytime. Did you read Alexandre's letter where Bob wished him dead by being run over by a big truck? Now you have both sides of the story. I only deal in facts.

 

[Alexandre]

We are just stating facts. A man's measure is how he behaved in life - and all of what is being said here is stuff that I told Bob Marx face to face or in written form.


Here's (again) my part of his obituary in the Spanish newspaper ABC:

https://abcblogs.abc.es/espejo-de-n...-marx-cazatesoros-del-patrimonio-iberico.html

"Some say no one discovered more wrecks than Robert Marx, some will
say that there was never a greater liar than Bob Marx.


Even the man himself could not agree on his age: according to some of
his resumes, interviews and profiles, he was born in 1933. Or 1936, if
you read some other profiles of his. You decide.


What everyone that has ever written about him agrees is that his life
was full of adventure, as if he was a real-life Indiana Jones.


Being arrested in Mexico, escaping PLO terrorists or finding bronze
cannons underwater while untangling cable from the propellers of the
US Navy ship he was on, grabbing gold from Spanish galleons off Guam,
finding Phoenician shipwrecks in the Algarve, Portugal – tall stories
that went on and on and still survive today because no one has ever
fact checked them out.


For instance, he never discovered a Roman wreck off Guanabara bay,
Brazil – the amphora replicas had been put there by a local diver,
Americo Santarelli.


He never located, much less excavated, the 1512 Portuguese ship “Flor
de la Mar”, allegedly the “richest shipwreck in the world – the wreck
having been salvaged at the time of sinking by the local potentate.
There are no photos of the 40-kilo gold helmet that Marx said he had
found and that had belonged to Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama.


He never had a degree, be it in History or Archaeology and he never
helped the FBI to catch a most wanted man, Frank Sprenz, in Mexico, in
1959 – the guy was actually apprehended because he had to swerve his
small plane in order to avoid a cow crossing the runway.


He said he was knighted in Spain, Portugal and England – but, at least
in Portugal, his name is missing from the National Register of
Knighthoods and Orders.


It’s like Marx had Munchausen syndrome - an affliction that was never
challenged but actually helped him to impress sofa driven, armchair
would-be-explorers.


In the 80´s, in the Azores, he seduced local politicians into passing
a local law that would allow him to salvage shipwrecks there, the
regional government keeping half of all that would be recovered.


When Lisbon sunk that law, he managed to talk to lawyer Rui Gomes da
Silva, then also a Member of the Portuguese Parliament, and influenced
him to draft the treasure hunting legislation 189/93 that put the
country into the sights of all treasure hunting companies of the
planet.


Marx wrote several times that governments should have underwater
heritage laws in place, in order to protect shipwrecks. But the laws
he recommended were finely tuned pieces of legislations, laws that
always worked in his favour, by supressing competition.


In Portugal, he tried to achieve that by hiring the same legislator,
Rui Gomes da Silva, as his personal lawyer. The move as so crude that
everyone suddenly realized that ethics were already long gone. At the
time, he claimed that he was a director for 6 companies, in 7
countries, being the frontman of a conglomeration of investors such as
Billie Jean King and Diana Ross, and that he was the only one capable
of having a million-dollar submarine ready to recover an intact
Portuguese carvel, to raise it and to display it, inside an aquarium,
in EXPO 98. He overplayed, as he always did it and, in the end, that
put an end to his dreams of being the top man.


Robert Marx made a living not on the fabulous treasures he claimed to
have found but on book rights, by being a speaker on cruise ships and
by raising money for treasure hunting ventures – usually by focusing
on individuals who earned more than $200,000 annually and who
possessed a net worth exceeding $1 million, people who could readily
afford to lose their investment.


In his presentations, Marx would show a movie of his work, tell some
stories, say he was looking for another ship and that it would be a
good investment opportunity, although investors could lose every
penny. Then he told the story of the ship, with some embellishments.
Somebody would get hooked and he would live off his fame for another
month, another year.


A true pioneer, Marx was eventually the first to arrive at wreck-rich
coastlines. For a few dollars, Portuguese or Mexican fishermen would
tell him where their nets were being snagged, for a few dollars more
archivists of the 60’s and 70’s would put aside documents, for a few
dollars more he would hire researchers to transcribe and translate
those documents.


Brazilian Navy commander Max Justo Guedes, that banned him from diving
in Brazil, because of his illegal selling of a bell from the Dutch
galleon “Utrecht” admired him as one admires a lovable conn man. He
would stop, squint his eyes, put a finger into his nose and say: “Marx
is a scoundrel, but his nose, his nose…. He had a wonderful nose for
shipwrecks, he has a pedigree hound’s nose for finding wrecks”.


He was a great storyteller, historical facts be damned, and together
with Potter, he was really the first to write for the general public
about shipwrecks and treasures, with just the right hint of historical
facts and documents, capitalizing on the rather innovative approach
that if people are mesmerized with gold and silver, they would really
fall for the drama and the flair on the high seas, preferably if
pirates, the Queen jewels and mutinies were thrown in the plot.


"The bigger the treasure, the bigger the trouble" Robert Marx loved to say.


He was really bigger than life, a flamboyant man until the end but in
his life there much more troubles than actual treasures."

Pkease stop speaking bad of the dead

 

[Alexandre]

Rob asked me to post this here, too:

"Please feel free to forward this to whomever you think would be interested.

Several decades ago, I decided to search for a Manila Galleon in the Philippines, any one of them would do. It so happens His Excellency Sir Robert Marx, Ph.D., had just been there and gone a couple of weeks before, leaving utter wreckage behind. My memory is not what it was, but some things are indelible.


My first stop, naturely, was to meet Father Gabriel Casals, the Director of the National Museum. At that point I was ignorant of Marx's extraordinary visit and even more dramatic departure. First thing the good Father said to me was, "Do you know Robert Marx?"


"Not personally. I do know he's written some interesting books on shipwrecks and the art and technology of finding them."


After a good lunch with Father Casals at a restaurant in the Old City, I came away with a lot more information....


Marx had made his usual impressive first impression on all concerned at the National Museum. So impressive that by the time he had them all under his spell, and had asked and verbally received the OK to search for and excavate two Galleons, the Museum officials said, in effect, "We've had a lot of trouble with treasure hunters here--so to end these problems, and maximize the trouble-free recovery of as much of our underwater heritage as possible, we want to give you the exclusive rights to search and recover shipwreck sites in Philippine waters."


And at their request, he set about drafting with them the Guidelines for Galleon Hunting--and far as I know, much of the Guidelines to this day (though not by that name of course) may well be his work.


After cruising his way through the Museum, Marx then set about doing some on-site research for one of his original two Galleons. But he made the serious mistake of not doing research on that remote part of the Philippines first--eastern Samar Island, a stronghold of the NPA (New Peoples Army), the ineradicable Maoist insurgency that had started at the end of WW II. Even now, still fighting.


The NPA don't target foreigners, but are extremely curious about what any foreigners--very few and far between on Eastern Samar--might be up to in areas they all but control.


The following is the account I learned about a month later from a bemused USN Captain, a Military Attache at the US Embassy.


Marx had been in Eastern Samar for a couple of days, asking locals if they knew any tales of shipwreck along their shores. It was not long before he was told an important person wanted to meet him, and it'd be a bad idea to refuse.


The important person was the very attractive and hard-core NPA senior officer thereabouts. Probably one of the few people Marx ever met who was not impressed. She was armed, and had a couple of armed guards. After some no-nonsense questioning, he apparently convinced her of his bona fides as a simple treasure hunter.


Then he made his worst mistake. A little background: There were a couple of well-known R&R sites on Luzon, the main island, where US Navy and Marines and USAF personnel supported entire local populations in return for a little friendship at a myriad of venues.


Trying his clumsy American best to lighten up the conversation with this woman who clearly hated his guts, he said, "You know, beautiful as you are, you could make a bunch of money up there in Subic." A second later (according to Marx) the muzzle of her AK was in his mouth. Cooler heads prevailed, she told him to get out, and forget any idea of ever looking for ships on Samar, or coming back at all. Then she left.


The first thing he did when he got back to Manila was to make an appointment with the Naval Attache I had just met. I was trying to get some charts, old ones if possible of the Philippine Sea, and that was when the Attache, like Father Casals, said, "Do you know this fellow Robert Marx?" and that was when I heard about Marx and Samar and almost getting his head blown off.


The last piece of that particular part of the story was that Marx had asked the Captain to give him an official letter attesting to what he, Marx, said had happened on Samar, because he, Marx, was running out of his investors' money in the Philippines and needed to prove to them that he had been terrorized by NPA and it would be dangerous for him to stay there any longer.


The Captain, of course, told him he was sorry but it would be impossible for him to write such a letter.


This upcoming part...I'm not sure whether it happened before or after the Samar debacle, but it was even worse. I got the outline, but not full details, from Father Casals.


At an important meeting with National Museum and Philippine Navy Officials--that is, everybody who was important to him and his purpose, and having been already offered exclusive Manila Galleon 'ownership,' something happened in that meeting that involved Marx's insulting everyone there, and as a result he was ordered out of the Museum and in effect out of the Philippines"

 

[grossmusic]

thanks so much - sad to learn about his passing

 

[mdj]

Never speak ill of the dead was what I was taught. If for no other reason " they might come back to haunt you". Seems a lot of people have strong opinions of him.

 

[Alexandre]

he borrowed some bronze spikes from Jim Tolan on Guam so that he could claim he found the Pilar in 1200 feet of water.

Is this the 1690 Pilar? If it is, why the bronze spikes?

 

[enrada]

He never found the Pilar so he had to use something to show the court that he had POTENTIALLY found the 1690 Pilar. No judge knows the difference and if you are a good story teller. It was a perfect scenario for him to file an Admiralty claim which would drag on for another year after Guam had given us a permit. So we lost the Admiralty claim in Guam courts, so went to the Ninth Circuit where Peter Hess got the Admiralty claim overturned in our favor. What a waste of $1,000's of dollars just to counter lies, fiction and fake artifacts.
His investors got abused for another year for the General Partner($50K to $100K, can't remember exact amount) and an Archaeologist consultant fee of $50K.
Initially when applying for a permit from Governor Ricky Bordallio I was asked to talk to his "able bodied assistant" Ben Pangalinan. Ben encouraged-suggested I should bring a brown paper bag with me. In other words pay a bribe. I refused and waited for the next honest Governor Joe Ada to be elected who gave us a permit. A few people got convicted of bribing Ricky and sent to jail. Ricky got convicted and was to spend 3 years in jail in Lompoc, California but the day before he was to leave for California, he went down to the main square in Agana and committed suicide.
You can talk about me all you want after I die as long as it is the truth.

 

[enrada]

As a side note;
Bob's lawyer during the Admiralty case was Elizabeth Melanson(sp?). A few years later she had a female client suing her husband for a divorce. The husband got so enraged that he stalked Elizabeth and shot and killed her. You can't make this **** up. I know a little off subject.

 

[VOC]

Robert "Bob" Marx passed over the bar

Funny how some archaeologists go on about respecting human remains, but then does not even have the curtesy, decency or morals to hold their vitriol until after a funeral.

Priceless

 

[Tnmountains]

Well this is the end of that.