Where did I get my inspiration to write Doubtful Provenance? Not on the bucolic campus of Haverford College.

But, as it turns out, my alma mater has several antiquities of doubtful provenance due to its close connection to one of the world’s most notorious traffickers in looted artifacts. Here’s an interesting article on fellow HC alum Robert Hecht who had quite a career as a black marketeer. I didn’t know about Mr. Hecht when I wrote Doubtful Provenance, though I was working on it before he passed away in 2012. He could have been quite a resource, but alas, we never met, nor did I know of his reputation. I’ll have to remind myself more often to exploit my alumni network.