Interpreter Sam

Don Herron, former chairman of the TLE Editorial Board and a seismic interpreter for more than three decades, was the guest speaker at the September meeting of the Dallas Geophysical Society. Herron has a relationship with regular TLE columnist Interpreter Sam that is similar to that between Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. John H. Watson, meaning either (1) Herron writes the column and Sam is totally fictitious or (2) Sam really exists and Herron functions merely as his literary agent. Either was good enough for Dean Clark, TLE editor, to stop over in Dallas en route to the SEG Annual Meeting in Houston, sell some copies of the two books by Herron that SEG has published, and find out what Sam thinks about some “of the moment” issues concerning geophysical interpretation. Following are questions from Clark and unfiltered responses from Sam.