|
Thornton W. Burgess (1874
- 1965)
BIOGRAPHY
Thornton Waldo Burgess, naturalist
and conservationist, loved the beauty of nature and its living creature
so much that he wrote about them for 50 years. By the time he retired,
he had written more than 170 books and 15,000 stories for daily columns
in newspapers.
Many of his outdoor observations in nature were used as plots for his
stories. In his first book, Old Mother West Wind, published in
1910, the reader meets many of the characters found in later books and
stories. These characters include Peter Rabbit, Jimmy Skunk, Sammy Jay,
Bobby Raccoon, Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog, Billy Mink, Jerry Muskrat,
Spotty the Turtle and of course, Old Mother West Wind and her Merry
Little Breezes.
For the next fifty years, Burgess steadily wrote books that were
published around the world in many languages, including Swedish, French,
German, Spanish, Italian, and Gaelic. Collaborating with him was his
illustrator and friend, Harrison Cady of New Yorkand Rockport,
Massachusetts. Cady gave us the familiar form of Peter Rabbit and other
animal characters that we recognize today.
Burgess was also actively involved with conservation efforts. Some of
his projects over his lifetime included:
1."The Green Meadow Club" for land conservation programs.
2.Help pass laws protecting migrant wildlife.
3."The Bedtime Stories Club" for wildlife protection programs.
4."Happy Jack Squirrel Saving Club" for War Savings Stamps & Bonds.
5."The Radio Nature League" broadcast from WBZA Springfield, MA.
For his efforts, an Honorary Literary Degree was bestowed upon Burgess
in 1938 from Northeastern University. The Boston Museum of Science
awarded him a special gold medal for "leading children down the path to
the wide wonderful world of the outdoors." He was also awarded the
distinguished Service Medal of the Permanent Wildlife Protection Fund.
In 1960, Burgess published his last book, Now I Remember, an
autobiography depicting memories of his early life in Sandwich, as well
as his career highlights. That same year, Burgess at the age of 83, had
published his 15,000th story. From 1912 to 1960, without interruption,
Burgess wrote a syndicated daily newspaper column titled "Bedtime
Stories".
Thornton Waldo Burgess is the son of Caroline F. Haywood and Thornton W.
Burgess Sr. a direct descendent of Thomas Burgess. (one of the first
settlers of Sandwich, Massachusetts in 1637.) He was born in Sandwich on
January 14, 1874 and died June 5, 1965, at the age of 91.
Burgess was brought up by his mother in Sandwich after his father died
in the year of his birth. They both lived in humble circumstances with
relatives or paying rent. As a youth he worked year round in order to
earn money. Some of his jobs included tending cows, picking arbutus or
berries, shipping water lilies from local ponds, selling candy and
trapping muskrats. William C. Chipman, one of his employers, lived on
Discovery Hill Road a wildlife habitat of woodland and wetland. This
habitat became the setting of so many of his stories in which he refers
to Smiling Pool and the Old Briar Patch. Graduating from Sandwich High
School in 1891, Burgess attended a Business College in Boston from
1892-93. At the age of 17 Burgess briefly lived in Boston and then moved
to Springfield, Massachusetts. He bought a place in Hampden,
Massachusetts in 1925 and made it his permanent home in 1957. Returning
frequently to Sandwich, Burgess claimed that to be his birth place and
spiritual home. After his death the Massachusetts Audubon Society
purchased his Hampden home and established the Laughing Brook Nature
Center at that location. Many of his childhood experiences and the
people he knew influenced his interest and concern for wildlife.
The Thornton W. Burgess Society was incorporated in 1976 "to inspire
reverence for wildlife and a concern for the natural environment." It is
a continuation of the influence Burgess had with youth through his
delightful stories. Arabella Burgess's home became the Burgess Museum on
Water Street in Sandwich. Later in 1979, the Green Briar Jam Kitchen on
Discovery Hill Road was purchased and has become a Nature Center as
well. At the Nature Center, classes and programs are planned which
implement the philosophy
of Thornton Waldo Burgess.
|
|
|
Grandfather Frog
Chippy Chipmunk
Reddy Fox
Jimmy Skunk
Happy Jack
Squirrel
Peter Rabbit
|
|
|
