Gary Graham grew up in rural Louisiana where he was born in 1951. He roamed the woods of his grandfather’s off-the-grid farm, frequently alone, being one with nature so to speak, becoming lost, having close calls with mean Cottonmouth water moccasin snakes, imitating birds, and running with deer. While on the farm, he also picked cotton with his mother, drew buckets of water from a well, and helped prepare sausage.
One of his earliest memories is of his father telling him scary stories of nighttime creatures living in the woods. Gary continued the tradition by telling similar stories to cub scouts around camp fires. He discovered the joys of a story well told and of an active imagination. Gary published his first scientific article as an undergraduate at Louisiana State University where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He conducted research on bats and birds in Peru for his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico. Gary lived in a tent, off-the-grid again, as part of a wonderful Quechua family in central Peru while conducting his research.
Gary’s career path took him to Austin, Texas where he worked for Bat Conservation International and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as Director of the Wildlife Division until 2002. He then became Executive Director of Audubon Colorado until 2009 when he moved to Western Resource Advocates also in Boulder. While in Colorado Gary climbed twenty-two 14,000 ft mountains (14ers) and lived part of the time in Nederland where he returns as often as possible. He now enjoys life, especially the ocean, in Massachusetts.
Gary retired early to tell more stories. He has published two nonfiction books, Bats of the World and the Texas Wildlife Viewing Guide, plus numerous scientific and popular articles. He is married to Lauren Sullivan, a professor at the University of Massachusetts and Tufts University where she specializes in archaeology of Belize. Gary has two adventurous sons who help keep him young and on his toes.