Harley Garbani

He was a onetime plumber who gained unexpected renown pursuing his lifelong avocation as a fossil hunter who discovered some of the world's most significant dinosaur fossils. From Mexico to Montana, self-taught paleontologist and archaeologist Harley Garbani spent decades "prospecting for bones" in the badlands where bedrock is exposed. He also amassed one of the finest collections of Native American artifacts in Southern California. His prime fossil finds are on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the University of California Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley and the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont.

He was a onetime plumber who gained unexpected renown pursuing his lifelong avocation as a fossil hunter who discovered some of the world's most significant dinosaur fossils. From Mexico to Montana, self-taught paleontologist and archaeologist Harley Garbani spent decades "prospecting for bones" in the badlands where bedrock is exposed. He also amassed one of the finest collections of Native American artifacts in Southern California. His prime fossil finds are on display at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the University of California Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley and the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont.

Harley Garbani excused himself, ducked out of the room and returned with a savage set of 6-inch teeth and claws. "Take a look," he said, displaying the finer, if sharper, points of a Tyrannosaurus rex. "If he picks you up with these, you can kiss your butt goodbye." That fate seems unlikely these days even if Garbani's home is more appropriate to, say, Jurassic Park than the trailer park in Hemet where he lives.

Harley Garbani excused himself, ducked out of the room and returned with a savage set of 6-inch teeth and claws. "Take a look," he said, displaying the finer, if sharper, points of a Tyrannosaurus rex. "If he picks you up with these, you can kiss your butt goodbye." That fate seems unlikely these days even if Garbani's home is more appropriate to, say, Jurassic Park than the trailer park in Hemet where he lives.