I saw in the paper that local botanist Art Kruckeberg has passed on. I worked with him for a short time in my early twenties at the University of Washington, and he was a gracious and knowledgeable man. I have fond memories of him.

http://www.kruckeberg.org/

AW, Bonehead, don't you hate learning someone is gone. I am sorry for your loss.

I saw him a few years ago. He was very very very old. He and his wife had donated their property to become a park/botanic garden, but he was allowed to stay living in the house. I went there to look at plants and he was being escorted into his home by a caregiver. I thought it was nice he was able to stay in his wonderful place surrounded by all the plants he had cultivated. I never knew him but have read some of his books. Really admired him and his wife.

I have visited the Kruckeberg gardens many times and have seen him while there visiting, taking classes or volunteering.

I recently came across his name in the acknowledgements section of my daughter's summer reading book...Into the Wild. It is about a young man who decided to try to live off the land in Alaska. It is theorized that he died of malnutrition/starvation after consuming the seed pods of a wild potato plant. He had been consuming the tubers during the growing season, and the book that he had brought as a guide made no mention of seed toxicity...the author had to research all the back to an earlier expedition to find any mention of poisoning from the seed pods. Art was undoubtedly contacted for his expertise in native plants.

He will most certainly be missed.