Foreword
by Robert Bateman
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Long before I saw him, I knew him. Everyone did, at least everyone important in my life. It was a crowded setting, the grand opening of one of the most historic exhibitions of its kind, "Animals in Art," at the Royal Ontario Museum.

The year was 1975, and many distinguished people were there, but the one I was most anxious to meet was Roger Tory Peterson. I had hoped for an introduction, but I didn't expect it. I couldn't believe it when he looked me in the eye and told me he had seen a wildebeest painting of mine in Bristol Foster's house in Nairobi. He then took me aside, led me through the show, and proceeded to comment on and critique my paintings and others. As I was to learn through the years, this was classic Peterson. Never an idle chit-chatter, he was an absorbed and interested observer.

He changed my life in immeasurable and positive ways. My own life and career received an almost immediate impact through the connection Roger made for me to Bob Lewin and Mill Pond Press, as well as Lars-Eric Lindblad and Lindblad Tours. But that is not important when compared to the enormous influence Roger's life's work had on the planet. My first Peterson Field Guide to the Birds came as my twelfth-birthday present from my mother. It has been joined by many others since, but that first one is still a treasured possession. This little book was the doorway into the wonderland of natural history. It has, in fact, been the doorway for countless millions of other people worldwide. A Field Guide to the Birds, first published in 1934, created the trail for countless field guides to follow. They are still following year by year.

Two things were crucial in the evolution of the field guide. First was the recognition of the importance of naming things. The second was the fact that Peterson chose birds to start with.