The Mysterious Disappearance of Alan (Abe) Blank. (New info added)
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His Lifelong Dream Snatched Away.
The Terrible Loss of a Great Man.
Abe Blank Pays the Ultimate Price.
I once had a very good friend. His name was Abe Blank and he was generous to a fault and a champion of creatures few people could find it in their hearts to love. Abe, an American, from Des Moines, loved and understood snakes, and he had a collection of them he showed to the public and school groups in La Paz, Baja California. He also cared very much for arachnids: spiders and scorpions. He had a hall devoted to them, too, and he would let people handle huge tarantulas as well as snakes and lizards.
Abe maintained that Baja, Mexico, was one of the most benign places in the world . Something about the warm, desert climate and quiet, cactus covered hills, backed by the azure, limpid seas, imbued residents, man and beast, with the desire to live in harmony.
Where snakes were concerned, Abe would council, that they hardly ever attack without provocation. A snake has difficulty working out whether it is being provoked or not when a 200-pound man steps on it, so you need to take care in areas where poisonous snakes are found. It can also only take so much of being poked with sticks or having rocks chucked at it; and snakes can move and strike very fast once they decide to do so.
Abe said one of God’s creatures man cannot live with, or live without, is the spider. We seem to have something in our psyche that makes us afraid of spiders. Little Miss Muffet of the nursery rhyme was actually a real little girl who was made to “love” the spider she was terrified of by her nature loving father. Maybe when were hunter-gathers there were larger spiders in the forests who really menaced us. Even today, there are four of five species with venom enough to kill a vulnerable human, such as the old or a young child.
Abe told me the worst is little known and lives in Brazil: this is the Wandering Spider and is the most prone to attack us with no reason; its bite has caused the death of a lot of small kids. It is also known as the Banana Spider and has travelled all over the world in bananas, much to the consternation of those finding it, if bitten. Recent studies have suggested it is much more venemous than previously thought. Then the Black Widow whose name bestows on the hapless creature a bark far worse than its bite. The Widow is timid and lives in damp places, it is very unlikely to bother you if you leave it alone.
After the Wandering monster; the most dangerous spider, because of its size and bite potential, is the Australian Trap Door spider, or Funnel web. Again, it lives peaceably in its hole and won’t bother anyone if left alone.
Abe said perhaps the nastiest spider in some ways is the Brown Recluse, it has a really complex and potent venom which can cause the flesh to rot around the bite area, known as necrotic arachnidism, leading to gangrene and tissue sloughing off, sometimes for many months after the bite. Also, it has a habit of getting into cupboards and shoes, etc. When is does bite, it is often not felt until symptoms appear.
Abe had a very soft spot for tarantulas, which he said were practically harmless to man. They have no interest in biting and can be handled with ease. Their bite, in most species, is no worse than a bee sting; they can, however, also throw fine silicon hairs at you if you really rile them, they will make you sneeze, and getting these in the eyes can be serious.
I will never forget the large, shambling and ageing figure of Abe with a group of fascinated Mexican school kids around him, one whose trembling hand supported a large, furry tarantula!
I learned all this and much more from Abe. He would come to the little village of El Triunfo where I lived and we would wander off into the desert just past my front door. Abe would pick up tarantulas and all kinds of snakes, gently, and they seems to know he would not harm them. I helped him with the ads and promotion for his new Serpentarium in La Paz, the culmination of his life-long dream. All his savings had gone into this wonderful collection of flora and fauna of Baja, all housed in large enclosures that imitated as much as possible their natural environment.
He had some teething problems getting all the necessary permits to open the place: bureaucracy in Mexico, as it is in any Spanish country, is a tedious and long-winded process. In Mexico, it involves the judicious application of a little grease.
One day, I had a hysterical call from Abe’s assistant, Victor. “The neighbours have reported a large snake swimming around in their pool, they are terrorized and blaming us!” We rescued the snake, which was not one belonging to the serpentarium. But problems with neighbours were ongoing for years, it’s a miracle the place did finally get the permits and is open, right up to this day in 2009.
But without my great friend, the kindly, philanthropic and gentle Abe Blank.
One awful day, about one year after the serpentarium was up and running, I got another call from Victor. “don Roberto, Abe is missing, we can’t find him anywhere.!” Evidently, he had been heard arguing vociferously with another employee I also knew, and African American by the name of H-----. Abe was last seen walking towards his house he had rented in La Paz.
This wonderful man has never been seen again, nor has any trace of his body been located.
We don’t even know for sure what happened to him immediately before his disappearance. What we do know, however, is very suspicious and perhaps an example of poetic justice at work.
Two nights after his disappearance, a pickup truck slammed at 60 miles per hour, head-on, into the front of a bus doing about the same speed in a deserted area of the La Paz to Todos Santos highway.
The driver, who was killed on impact, was the African American employee Abe had been arguing with. Many of the details were hushed up but I did hear that a quantity of money had been found in the truck and that the driver would have seemed to be speeding north to the US border. We shall never hear his side of the story now.
That’s all anyone knows, Abe, doubtlessly, lies in an unmarked grave somewhere in the desert among the creatures he so loved. And if there is some Day of Judgement, another person may one day be hurled into a pit with snakes, spiders and scorpions to pay for Abe’s murder.
Alan (Abe) Blank, 1937-2001. My dear, dear friend… RIP
Postscript. Do you know what makes me so mad. You can find out on Google, etc. every detail of these mindless celebrities: from their hair colour to who they are sleeping with - to whether they pick their noses or what their astrological sign is. But I could find nothing on the search engines about Abe's death; nothing in the ads for the Serpentarium to say that he was the man who did it all in the beginning. Abe...maybe you're better away from this kind of a world.
Added from a great friend of Abe.
Hi diogenes,
I've been reading with enormous interest about the disappearance of Abe. As you may imagine, Abe was a good friend of mine. Let me tell you how we first met.
I was travelling around Kenya in east Africa. One day I had booked a safari to the arid north of the country. We were about to leave on a truck for 12 passengers and apparently one of the passengers was missing. I was the only one in there travelling alone, so the only empty seat was the one next to me. After more than 20 minutes of a tense wait, one of the funniest looking guys I've ever seen got inside the truck and evidently sat next to me. We began to chat and he told me his name was Abe and that he was from Mexico. He didn't look mexican at all and his english sounded pure gringo but still I said "Excellent, we can speak in spanish then as I'm from Spain". He didn't want to say he was american to avoid hassels and told me the truth. We shared the tent every day and became good friends, birding together all the time (I'm a hooked birdwatcher), in fact we booked another safari together. One day in one of the parks we visited, I was wearing a t-shirt with loads of spider paintings and the african locals were very interested, especially on a big tarantula. Then Abe told us "You want to see a real one?" After some laughing, he went to the tent and brought a big metal box he had in his luggage. I had no idea he was carrying it. Opened it and took out a huge tarantula alive! Most of the locals run away, they hadn't seen such a monster in their lives! I was simply amazed, "what the hell are you doing here with this?" "Oh, I always travel with her, it's my favourite one, cute isn't it..."
Much later met in Barcelona (the city I was living at that time), a few times in his Baja ranchos, birded together through Costa Rica (I had moved there) etc...
One unfortunate day, his friend Rita (I'm sure you know her) sent me an email telling me he had dissapeared and the rest of this sad story.
I miss him very much too...
Cheers, Eduardo.
The address of the Serpentario is:
El Serpentario C.E.M.A de la Paz
Apartado Postal 657
La Paz BCS 23000 Mexico
Victor there may know more about the whereablouts of Alan's family and if his body was ever found
Bob
CommentsLoading...
Hola Eduardo: It's a small world, verdad? I was really just getting to know Abe well when this happened. He had a lot of problems at the time as I remember. I would like to add your comments to the article on Abe if you would allow me to do so.
Gracias, hasta luego,
Roberto.
Por supuesto, add it as you like. Abe caused a great impact in my life, he deserves to be remembered any time. I was googling Abe Blank and found your place, brought me back loads of beautiful memories and unfortunately a few sad ones too.
Saludos,
Eduardo
I met Abe in Sri Lanka in 1973. We visited his home in Baja. He joined Don and me on a hiking trip to New Guinea and again with his wife on a trip to Hunza and Pakistan. He was a dear friend.
Cecelia Hurwich
cecphd@earthlink.net
Thanks for comment. Abe left a big footprint
Bob
Thanks for comment. Abe left a big footprint
Bob
Thank you for posting the piece on Abe.
I think you and I may have met one afternoon in January 2001. Abe and I were then discussing plans for a second serpentarium in Cabo. Anyhow We stopped by a small town (I cannot remember the name at the moment) and met with a writer from the UK (You?).
He definately made a significant impact in my life and his passion for nature was certainly contagious!
I've been back to Baja several times since and every visit brings memories and inspiration. Thank you again for the posting.
Was Abe's nickname at one point "cosmos"? I met an Abe Blank in Indonesia in 1974 and we went out in the jungle to look for strange bugs. Then he told me he was moving to Baja, Mexico. no contact since.
That was me, Carl, I remember the meeting vaguely; we found a tarantula on the old Baja road just outside the village if you remember. Such a shame the whole episode of Abe's murder. Bob
I met Abe one time about twelve years ago in Des Moines, of all places, at some fundraising event. I was struck by how caring he was. I was going through a very difficult time, and I actually felt comforted by him. He actually took the time to care. I still remember him for this. He did leave a very large footprint. It wasn't his snakes or spiders or adventures, it was just him. It's unfortunate that he was taken away from all of us, and all creatures great and small, scary and comfy. Laurie from Ankeny
Would this be the same Abe Blank who bought the Heritage Markets in Kuranda, Tropical North Queensland, Australia circa 1993 with his wife Lola and daughter Racquel? I have tried for MANY years to locate any of them It is a shock to google THIS news..
Abe never discussed his personal life with me. He was having a lot of economical and bureaucratic worries when I met him in Mexico. He was a man of many facets and I don't think anyone knew him really well.
Abe was travelling and looking for a place to settle at the time you mention, so it migt well have been him.
Sorry I can't be of more help...Bob
Thanks for the reply. Many of my Kuranda friends are shocked at your news. We had a few really fun years with the Blanks on Meeroo (name of street). Lola and I were very close, but when they separated and sold the Heritage Markets, and went back to the States, we lost touch. I wonder what we can try next?
Try Googling the family back in the States, they had a successful business which is where Abe's money came from I think, but you sound as if you spent much more time with them than i did. You could contact the exhibition in La Paz, or take a holiday there. Victor who ran the place last time I was there (2007) was close to Abe and may know where the family is.
Good luck! Bob Challen
Great hub and quite moving.....thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.
I found this terrible news by googling my old friend Abe Cosmos Blank. I was just idly wondering how this interesting eccentric fellows was these days.
I met Abe and then Lola many years ago in Texas. It was around 1975 or perhaps a bit earlier. I was building the Armand Bayou Nature Center in Houston and we met at a Nature Conservancy gathering at the YO ranch in the Texas Hill country. He was playing with a pretty little jumping spider.
We visited for three or four years, during which time he introduced us to Lola.
I remember his going to Mexico and still have a wonderful photo he sent me of he and lola with their new child with the big red legged Tarantula on her shoulder. The photo was titled "Familiar Blank"
We corresponded sporadically for years, but never met again.
He was a kind soul indeed and I spent some interesting times with him camping around Texas. I will miss him.
I too am interested in locating Lola and the child.
Regards
Adios
Rick Pratt
Director, Port Aransas Museum
Port Aransas, TX
The only suggestion I have is to contact Victor at the Serpentarium, or the family in Des Moines...Bob
Bob,
do you have contact info for the Serpentarium?
Rick Pratt
Not the exact address, unless it's online.
It is The Serpentarium
La Paz
BCS
Mexico
That will get it, there's only one.
Gracias.
Rick
Abe's daughter's name is Raquel and is a couple of years younger than my daughter, who soon turns 32 years old. I last saw her and Lola in 1993, but kept in touch for many years. IThe last address was Watsonville, California. Think I heard Raquel was to be a lawyer. Please keep updating this space. The Australian connections really appreciate it.
Will do, Lesley, and thanks for info...Bob
I met Alan in Los Angeles, somewhere around 1970. Alan was a bit crazy, interesting and humorous. Somehow, we kept in touch and he dropped in and stayed with us in the late 70's in Montreal - tarantulas and all. He had just visited Time-Life in New York and had sold them usage rights to many photographs.
In the early 80's we joined a few friends and we all met up in Acapulco where we had a great lunch in Alan's parent's apartment overlooking the ocean.
In the 90's Alan came to Vancouver.
I'm lucky to have known and spent time with Alan. If he is dead I sincerely hope that his death was instantaneous.
This is the address:
El Serpentario y C.E.M.A. de La Paz
A. Postal 657
La Paz
Baja Calif. Sur 23000 MEXICO
I am sure his death was fast and probably started with a blow. But he seems to have popped up all over the world! It would be too much to hope he is somewhere with his beloved creatures - perhaps in the Amazon jungle - We can't afford to loose people like him before their time. Thanks for info I will add it to the article...Bob
Other than being missing, what evidence has led you to assume Abe died?
Read the story LM
THE DEATH OF ABE, CAN HAVE ANOTHER SUSPECT, ¿WHO WILL BENEFIT AND KEEP SAYING THE HERPETARIUM IS THE OWNER? YES, VICTOR MANUEL VELAZQUEZ SOLIS THAT WAS MEXICAN ARMY LT, DISHONORABLY DISCHARGED FOR BEING ARRESTED IN POSSESSION OF A SHIPMENT OF COCAINE IN CONNECTION WITH THE ORGANIZED CRIME, COULD BE THE AUTHOR OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ABE AND THE “ACCIDENT” OF HIS AFRO AMERICAN ASSISTANT TO DIVERT SUSPICION WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS WHY WAS NOT INVESTIGATED? BE SAYS "DOCTOR", "CAPTAIN" OF THE ARMY AND "SCIENTIFIC” ALL OF THIS IS FALSE ... INVESTIGATE HIM, THIS GUY HAVE CONNECTIONS ON THE CRIMINAL BACKGROUND AND CRIMINAL MILITARY RECORD, I BELIEVE THAT DESERVES ABE.
We shall never know how the incident regrding Abe's death really unfolded. If this is the same Victor who runs the place, they seemd like friends. He might have killed Abe, but I don't believe he could havbe arranged his black employee's death by having him run head-on into a bus full of passengers...that would be up to CIA level of intrigue...Bob
"Read the story LM" : Yes I did, hence, MY question, as I don't go by 'stories'.
That’s all anyone knows, Abe, doubtlessly, lies in an unmarked grave somewhere in the desert among the creatures he so loved. And if there is some Day of Judgement, another person may one day be hurled into a pit with snakes, spiders and scorpions to pay for Abe’s murder.
Sounds very fishy to me. If YOU choose to believe Victor, without the benefit of find a body, that's your right. IF some of us are sceptical that's ours..
Thanks for comment Lesley. I had no idea you, too, were suspicious of Victor. It's all so long ago now, and you can imagine how interested the Mexican police are...Ha! Maybe his body will turn up one day and the investigation can be reopened...Bob
HOLA VICTOR: ESTARE EN CABOS SAN LUCAS EN EL 6 DE MARZO. QUIEOR HACEDR CONTATO CONTIGO. ABRAZOS, JOHNO
Victor will be running the Serpentarium I think in La paz
Bob
Eduardo 2 years ago
Hi diogenes,
I've been reading with enormous interest about the disappearance of Abe. As you may imagine, Abe was a good friend of mine. Let me tell you how we first met.
I was travelling around Kenya in east Africa. One day I had booked a safari to the arid north of the country. We were about to leave on a truck for 12 passengers and apparently one of the passengers was missing. I was the only one in there travelling alone, so the only empty seat was the one next to me. After more than 20 minutes of a tense wait, one of the funniest looking guys I've ever seen got inside the truck and evidently sat next to me. We began to chat and he told me his name was Abe and that he was from Mexico. He didn't look mexican at all and his english sounded pure gringo but still I said "Excellent, we can speak in spanish then as I'm from Spain". He didn't want to say he was american to avoid hassels and told me the truth. We shared the tent every day and became good friends, birding together all the time (I'm a hooked birdwatcher), in fact we booked another safari together. One day in one of the parks we visited, I was wearing a t-shirt with loads of spider paintings and the african locals were very interested, especially on a big tarantula. Then Abe told us "You want to see a real one?" After some laughing, he went to the tent and brought a big metal box he had in his luggage. I had no idea he was carrying it. Opened it and took out a huge tarantula alive! Most of the locals run away, they hadn't seen such a monster in their lives! I was simply amazed, "what the hell are you doing here with this?" "Oh, I always travel with her, it's my favourite one, cute isn't it..."
Much later met in Barcelona (the city I was living at that time), a few times in his Baja ranchos, birded together through Costa Rica (I had moved there) etc...
One unfortunate day, his friend Rita (I'm sure you know her) sent me an email telling me he had dissapeared and the rest of this sad story.
I miss him very much too...
Cheers,
Eduardo (motmot65'at'yahoo.com)