Who was the first nature writer you idolized?

Nature Talk
62

If you can find it, you might be interested in A Naturalist Buys an Old Farm, by Edwin Way Teale. That was in Ohio, too.

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63

I will add another of my early influences: Marston Bates. Specifically, two books on tropical ecology: Where Winter Never Comes and The Forest and the Sea.

64 
    Teale's farm was actually in Connecticut.
65

Truthfully, Beatrix Potter.

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66

Have you seen the biopic about her, called ā€œMiss Potterā€? She did more than just write stories about animals.

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67

No, I havenā€™t seen the biopic on Beatrix. I listened to my mother read to my sister, as I got lost in the illustrations and story. It was many years later that I did learn more about her, and how remarkable she was, especially for the times. And when I had children, I read them these stories before they knew the words.

68

Iā€™ve always been a fan of field guides which are what turned me on to nature study and led me into biology as a profession. The Peterson Field Guides were and still are among my favorites. I was a herpetology nerd as a little kid and my parents bought me a copy of Roger Conantā€™s field guide to amphibians and reptiles of Eastern North America (I was living in the east at that time) and I practically devoured that book. Decades later when I was living in New Mexico, Conant retired to that state and I got to meet him and have dinner with him a number of times. Pretty amazing to meet the man (late in his life) who essentially put me on the path Iā€™m still on today.

69

I wouldnā€™t say I idolised Peterson but I took his Britain & Europe bird field guide everywhere for about 20 years after getting it as an 8th birthday present. I even took it to western USA in 1978. Not sure why, as I had his Guide to Western Birds with me too.

70

Gerald Durrell was my first, too! Funny, because I picked up ā€œMy Family and Other Animalsā€ the other day and it sounded quite datedā€¦ but I remember reading it as a kid and rolling with laughter. I could strongly identify with the place and culture as I was often spending summers in Greece, and wound up re-reading his book several times (there was limited material for me during these visits).

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