Eileen Rose Busby (August 15, 1922 – April 6, 2005) was an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

antiques An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

expert who was featured on HGTV's ''Appraise It!'' show.

Early life

Busby was born Eileen May Rose in

Two Harbors, Minnesota Two Harbors is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Minnesota, United States, along the shore of Lake Superior. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 census. Minnesota State Highway 61 serves as a main route in Two Harbors. Gooseberry ...

. Her parents, Frank and

Esther Rose Esther Elvina Rose (April 1, 1901 – July 16, 1990) was an American painter who worked in oils, collage, silkscreen and watercolors. She was best known for her impressionist renditions of California coastal images. Early life Esther Elvina H ...

, relocated to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

while she was still a baby. Busby taught herself to read when she was 3 years old, skipped a grade in school, and graduated from

San Diego High School San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District, one of the oldest public sc ...

at age 16.

Biography

Busby, who first married

James (Jim) Scott James Melvin Scott (nicknamed Scotty, but also called Melvin and Jim) (1911–2001), an author, inventor, and Senior Olympian, was born in Wisdom, Missouri, on 28 May 1911, to James Baker Scott and Cordelia Susan Suiter. One of five children (o ...

and then Richard Busby, often spoke before groups about antiques collecting. She also taught a how-to course for many years at

Cuyamaca College Cuyamaca College is a public community college in Rancho San Diego, California. It is part of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and the California Community Colleges System. Along with Grossmont College, it serves the eastern sub ...

and

Grossmont College Grossmont College is a public community college in El Cajon, California. Its name originated with the silent film actor and producer William J. Gross, who was enticed by Ed Fletcher to invest the purchase of land, part of which was called Grossmo ...

, community colleges in El Cajon, California. She wrote two books about the history and collecting of ''Royal Winton Porcelain'' and ''Cottage Ware''. Her third book, ''

Chintz Chintz () is a woodblock printed, painted, stained or glazed calico textile that originated in Golconda (present day Hyderabad, India) in the 16th century. The cloth is printed with designs featuring flowers and other patterns in different colour ...

and Pastel Ware'', co-authored with daughter

Cordelia Mendoza The Ocean Beach Antique District is a specialty shopping district located in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California. It is a few miles northwest of Downtown San Diego. Description Located on the community's main street, Newport Av ...

, also an antiques expert and an appraiser, is scheduled for posthumous publication by

Schiffer Publishing Schiffer Publishing Ltd. (also known for its imprints Schiffer, Schiffer Craft, Schiffer Military History, Schiffer Kids, REDFeather MBS, Cornell Maritime Press, Tidewater Publishers, Thrums Books, Geared Up Publications ) is a family-owned publi ...

in 2011. She was scheduled to lecture at the annual Chintz Convention, held in Northern California in April 2005, a month after her death. Busby's book ''Cottage Ware'' is referenced in collector

Judith Miller Judith Miller (born January 2, 1948) is an American journalist and commentator known for her coverage of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program both before and after the 2003 invasion, which was later discovered to have been based on ...

's book ''Buy, Sell, or Keep'', and she is listed in '' Kovels' Yellow Pages''. Busby and her husband, Richard, lived in England for 10 years, some of it spent in a thatched roof cottage, from where they traveled the countryside researching

Royal Winton Royal Winton is an English brand of ceramics, made by Grimwades Limited, a Stoke-on-Trent based company founded in 1885. The brand is particularly associated with chintzware. History The company was founded by Leonard Lumsden Grimwade, an expe ...

and chintz. Busby wrote articles about their travels while Richard took photos, which were published in ''Sea'' magazine and ''International Yachtsman''. While living in England, Busby passed the UK's Mensa exam and became a member. She also taught word processing at a U.S. military base. Busby was a member of the San Diego chapter of Mensa and the San Diego Press Club, and was featured in 2004 in the ''Antiques Road Shows newsletter. In 1999, Busby was featured as a collector on HGTV's ''Appraise It!'' show, taped at

Butterfield & Butterfield Bonhams and Butterfield was a large American auction house, founded in 1865 by William Butterfield in San Francisco. It was purchased in 1999 from Bernard Osher by online auctioneer eBay for $260 million. In 2002, it was acquired from eBay by B ...

's auction house in Los Angeles. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology at age 62 from State University of New York. Also, she was a member of the San Diego Press Club. Upon her return to the US from England in 1990, she wrote articles for ''The Collector'', ''Antiques and Collectibles'', and ''West Coast Peddler.'' She also sold Royal Winton and chintz china pieces, which she had purchased in England, as a dealer at daughter Cordelia Mendoza's antiques store in Ocean Beach. California. She and Jim Scott had five children, two of whom— J. Michael Scott and Cathy Scott—are also authors. Busby was also the sister of author and Orthodox Christian Hieromonk Father

Seraphim Rose Seraphim Rose (born Eugene Dennis Rose; August 13, 1934 – September 2, 1982), also known as Seraphim of Platina, was an American hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia who co-founded the Saint Herman of Alaska Monastery in P ...

and the sister-in-law of former CIA Director Stansfield Turner.

Books

* ''Royal Winton Porcelain: Ceramics Fit for a King'' 1998 * ''Cottage Ware: Ceramic Tableware Shaped As Buildings, 1920s-1990s'' 2003 * ''Computer Typing'' * ''Quick-Quick Type: Ten Easy Lessons : A Short, Simple Beginner or Refresher Course With Handy Reference Section''

References

External links

Eileen Rose Busby official siteAmazon's Author Page''The Collector'' obituaryListed in ''Official Guide to Flea Market Prices, 2nd ed''
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20111002024535/http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=0764317458 Publisher's book page for ''Cottage Ware''* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Busby, Eileen Rose 1922 births 2005 deaths People from Two Harbors, Minnesota Antiques experts American collectors Women collectors American antiquarians Writers from San Diego 20th-century American historians Mensans American women historians 20th-century American women writers Writers from Minnesota Historians from California 20th-century antiquarians 21st-century American women