ARTIST: ROGER TORY PETERSON  1908-1996

Roger an American artist, naturalist, and author was born 1908 in Jamestown, N.Y. His popular paintings and illustrations of birds for books led to the development of a series of nature handbooks called The Peterson Field Guide Series.

Peterson first collected his illustrations and methods of identifying birds in a book called Field Guide to the Birds (1934). Later he created a Field Guide to Western Birds (1941). In 1946 he became editor of the Peterson Field Guide Series. Peterson expanded the series to include Birds of Europe and Mexico (1948).

He wrote Birds of America, 1963 The Birds, 1979 Penguins, and with James Fisher, Peterson wrote Wild America (1955) and The World of Birds (1964).

In 1986 Peterson and several colleagues founded The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Jamestown, N.Y. His work has helped people identify and appreciate animals in their natural environment.