Roger Tory Peterson, famous for his field guides to birds, would have been 99 today. He is credited with making bird identification accessible to all levels of birders. There's a nice biographical article about him in the Environmental Encyclopedia, available through our Biography Resource Center database. According to the article, Peterson was born August 28, 1908, and died July 28, 1996. His passion for birds began when he was a boy. An artist by training, he studied at the National Academy of Design and the New York City Art Students' League. His two interests came together in his publication of A Field Guide to the Birds, which was published in 1934. Several newer editions were subsequently produced.

In addition to his Field Guide to the Birds, he also produced guides to wildflowers (A field guide to wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North America; a visual approach arranged by color, form, and detail) and plants (A field guide to edible wild plants of Eastern and Central North America). Houghton Mifflin now publishes a series of field guides in his name.

He received many awards for his work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. There is even a natural history institute named for him: The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.

A book about Peterson's life in birding, All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures was released posthumously in 2006, and you can find it here at the library.