Book Description

“Lizard Tales, People and Events in the Life of a Naturalist” consists of stories that I told in my ecology, evolution, ornithology, herpetology, natural history, and general biology classes or around campfires, and includes many that have never been told to anyone until now. The book is autobiographical and geographic: Chicago, Hollywood, San Diego, UCLA, Cal. Tech., New York, Arizona and also Australia, Mexico, and Central America. The stories are about animals, fieldwork, people, and weird or exciting events. Because I have met and interacted with many people, there are personal stories about Debbie Reynolds, Natalie Wood, John Steinbeck, Margaret Meade, Cellist Gregory Piatagorsky, Charles Richter (Earthquake Scale), U.S. Grant IV, The Emperor of Japan, and artist Charles Russell! Some of the fun stories include: Playing badminton with the world’s champion, Cobras getting loose at UCLA, Nobel Laureates in my class, How I invented the stent, Origin of the first elephant race in human history, Why salamanders helped Custer lose the Battle of Little Big Horn, The girl that peed with rattlesnakes, Sliding off the side of a whale, Drinking beer with the Emperor of Japan, Can lizards predict earthquakes, Three gringos and a dead horse (Costa Rica), and Attempted murder using a rattlesnake.