Foreword
by Robert Bateman
Text: 1 2 3 4 5 6

He began participating in a number of naturalist organizations such as the Linnaean Society and the Bronx County Bird Club. His career as an educator began as counselor of nature study at a YMCA camp in Michigan (one summer) and then Camp Chewonki in Maine (five summers). From 1931 to 1934, he taught arts and natural history at the Rivers School, a private boys' school in Massachusetts. His pupils included Elliot Richardson, later attorney-general of the United States, who in 1974 declared Peterson the teacher who had influenced him most.

It was during his time teaching in Maine that he began work on his first field guide to the birds. In 1929, Bill Vogt, the editor of Bird-Lore magazine (later Audubon magazine) suggested, "Roger, you know these things -- the field marks -- and you're also an artist. Why don't you pass on your knowledge in a book?" The historic moment arrived in 1934. After rejection by three New York publishers, Houghton Mifflin, a small Boston publisher, had the courage to take on this "risky" venture but only on condition that Peterson take no royalties on the first 1,000 books. The whole edition was only 2,000 copies. They were sold out in less than three weeks, and the book was immediately reprinted. Thus began an enterprise that changed the world. There have been four revised and expanded editions of the Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America since then. More than 7 million copies of the two North American Field Guides to the birds (east and west) have been sold. In 1947, the Peterson Identification System was extended by Houghton Mifflin to cover other nature subjects. The series now embraces more than 50 titles.

During World War II, Peterson used his system to prepare a plane-spotting training manual for the Air Corps. He later worked for the Air Corps in pioneering research on the effects of DDT on wildlife. His friend and fellow naturalist Rachel Carson built on these efforts and eventually produced the landmark environmental book Silent Spring. Peterson was an activist in the banning of DDT in Connecticut, resulting in the rebounding of Osprey and other bird populations. Roger Tory Peterson worked with Peter Scott in helping to found the World Wildlife Fund, and his efforts resulted in the creation of a national park at Lake Nakuru in Kenya.