Edwin Way Teale
He crisscrossed America for decades, crafting intimate literary snapshots of the continent's wild places and changing seasons.
1899–1980 (age 81)·American naturalist, photographer & writer·Birthday: June 2·The Lost Generation
Biography
Edwin Way Teale found his life's work not in a laboratory, but on the open road with a notebook and a camera. An Indiana native, he worked as a writer and editor in New York before embarking on an ambitious project: to follow the march of the seasons across the vast North American landscape. This resulted in his masterwork, 'The American Seasons' series—four travelogues that blended precise natural history with a poetic, observant eye. He and his wife Nellie drove over 75,000 miles, from the spring swamps of Florida to the autumn forests of New England, documenting not just flora and fauna, but the very feel of the land. His photographs and detailed notes now serve as an invaluable ecological record of mid-20th century America. Teale's writing invited readers to see the extraordinary in the local, cementing his place as a quiet but essential chronicler of the natural world.
The Lost Generation
1883–1900
Came of age during World War I. Disillusioned by the carnage, they rejected the certainties of the Victorian era and built modernism from the wreckage — in art, literature, and politics.
Edwin was born in 1899, placing them squarely in The Lost Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Edwin Was Born
The biggest hits of 1899
Edwin's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1899Born
President: William McKinley
1904Started school
New York City opens its first subway line
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1912Became a teenager
Titanic sinks on its maiden voyage
President: William Howard Taft
1915Could drive
The Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat
President: Woodrow Wilson
1917Could vote
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1920Turned 21
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1929Turned 30
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1939Turned 40
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1949Turned 50
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1959Turned 60
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1969Turned 70
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 80
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1980Died at 81
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
Key Achievements
- Won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1966 for his book 'Wandering Through Winter'.
- Authored the four-volume 'The American Seasons' series, based on over 75,000 miles of travel across North America.
- His extensive photographic archive and field notes provide a critical historical record of American environments from 1930-1980.
Did You Know?
He was a close friend of conservationist and writer Rachel Carson.
He and his wife Nellie purchased a former farm in Connecticut which they named 'Trail Wood' and managed as a wildlife sanctuary.
The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series is hosted annually at the University of Connecticut.
““To those who have never seen the living, glowing colors of a Painted Lady butterfly, a description is but a pale ghost.””
