My Double Life: Memoirs Of A Naturalist [Paperback]

Frances Hamerstrom (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Hamerstrom's 60-year-long field study of the prairie chicken in central Wisconsin anticipated the spirit and dedication of Goodall and Fossey by decades, and was, given the times, an extraordinary undertaking. Born into a wealthy suburban Boston family, she candidly recalls a tyrannical father, a placatory mother, a childhood of culture and comfort, and her own cloaked insubordinations. Her unwavering commitment to monitor and preserve the prairie chicken was, perhaps, engendered by witnessing at an impressionable age the extinction of the heath hen. The hardships she and her husband, also a field naturalist, endured in Wisconsin included the rigors of winters with indoor temperatures plunging to -25 F, the steady arrival and departure of scores of unversed volunteer observers, homespun field equipment and methodology, and the hostility of many of the local citizenry. Now in her 80s, Hamerstrom sustains her abiding interest in nature with expeditions to far-flung wildernesses. Brenda Grazis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1st edition (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299142043
• ISBN-13: 978-0299142049
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,354,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fran Hamerstrom: a peer to Rachel Carson, January 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: My Double Life: Memoirs Of A Naturalist (Paperback)

This beatifully written biography describes the early life and career of wildlife biologist Frances Hamerstrom, the first female graduate student of Aldo Leopold (author of A Sand County Almanac) and pioneer in the field of wildlife biology. Hamerstrom's account describes her upbringing in Boston in the early 1900's, her marriage to Frederick Hamerstrom and their joint careers as graduate students, and wildlife biologists in Wisconsin. Filled with humor, you will laugh to read of her transition as a teenager in Brookline sneaking out to go ballroom dancing to that of a dedicated biologist. Even the biology will make you laugh as she describes trying to capture a hawk by getting it to land on a fencepost-- and 'decorating' the rest of the fenceposts with bouquets of goldenrod to make them un-land-upon-able. A great read!