Robert C. Stebbins March 1915 - September 2013

 

If you are a herper and looked at the title of this post and then thought who the heck is Robert C. Stebbins, all I can figure is you are probably pretty young. I would think that any herper who was middle aged or older would know the name, he wrote one of the most widely used herpetological field guides ever. That would be The Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians which was published first in 1966 as part of the Peterson Field Guide Series. I was ten or eleven when it was published and soon after that I got to see it in the library. It was not more than a few years after that when I owned my own copy. It wound up being the perfect companion for my copy of A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of the United States and Canada East of the 100th Meridian by Roger Conant and was a constant companion many years later when I traveled afield in our western states. I am indebted o Mr. Stebbins for many a herp collecting adventure that his field guide inspired within me.

Throughout much of his 98 years, Mr. Stebbins was an accomplished author and illustrator, a eminent herpetologist, a biologist, a naturalist, a conservationist and professor emeritus as well as being an inspiration to many a youngster who developed lasting interests in reptiles & amphibians. To see more about Robert C. Stebbins see these articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/us/robert-c-stebbins-chronicler-of-western-reptiles-and-amphibians-dies-at-98.html?_r=0

http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-robert-stebbins-20131006,0,6487001.story

http://bioaccumulation.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/in-memorium-robert-c-stebbins-march-31-1915-september-22-2013/

May he rest in peace in a place with lots of herps.

All the best,
Glenn B