As t.o. regulars are already aware, creationists regularly misrepresent
British Museum paleontologist Colin Patterson as a supporter of their
views, despite the fact that he has explicitly disclaimed this (see,
for examples, the _Creation/Evolution Newsletter_ vol. 4, no. 6,
1984, pp. 4-5, and _Nature_ vol. 332, 1988, p. 580).

Recently, I discovered that the director of animal care and a prof.
of pharmacy at the University of Arizona is a creationist.  He wrote
a letter to the Tucson-area evangelical Christian publication _Good
News_ in response to a letter from me.  I stated in my letter that
there is no creation/evolution debate within science, and this
gentleman responded by claiming that Colin Patterson was a recent
convert to Biblical Christianity.  I called him to ask for his source,
and he claimed he read it in a recent (within the last six months)
issue of either _Acts & Facts_ or _Impact_, most likely the latter.
I checked the last year's worth of _Acts & Facts_, and the last two
years of _Impact_, and was not surprised to find no such thing.  I
called the ICR and they were surprised to hear that this guy was claiming
to have read such a thing--they hadn't heard about it.
   So, it turns out, this guy either misinterpreted, misrepresented,
or made it up.

   I'm posting this because I'd like to be notified if anybody else
hears or sees this claim made anywhere.  It has appeared in print now
(as a letter to the editor in the September 1992 _Good News_ from John
Mulder), so I will not be surprised if it starts circulating throughout
the creationist community.  I've already sent them a letter of response
and hope to see it in the October issue, but it may end up spreading
before that.  (I hope nobody misreads this message as support for the
claim.  Lionel:  Colin Patterson does NOT support creationism in any
way and is NOT a believer in Biblical Creationism.)

Jim Lippard              Lippard@CCIT.ARIZONA.EDU
Dept. of Philosophy      Lippard@ARIZVMS.BITNET
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721