Gary Ferguson

Nature's Keeper: John Ripley Forbes and the Children's Nature Movement Gary Ferguson First edition

Once hailed by Time magazine as ''the Johnny Appleseed of nature museums,'' John Ripley Forbes arguably did as much as anyone in history to keep the wonders of nature alive for America's children.

Through seven decades of passionate, tireless effort, Forbes helped create outdoor-based science and learning centers in more than 200 communities across the country, from California to Connecticut, Michigan to Texas. Notably, many of these were placed in urban areas, often close to the poorest neighborhoods---a reflection of John's fierce commitment to bring the magic of the outdoors to those with little chance of encountering it on their own.

Nature's Keeper chronicles the life of this extraordinary educator, from his teen years with renowned conservationist William Hornaday, to his celebrated ''animal lending libraries'' of the 1950s and 1960s, to his final preservation victories at the end of the twentieth century.