This is not a review of his 18 books, or an account of his life. This is a testimony to the effect he has had directly on my life, which is very considerable. I can’t remember the first time I set eyes on the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History – or when I first perused its library – but it has become an almost daily part of my life during the warmer seasons. Hay and a few others created this natural museum back in 1954 to protect marshland, which was being gobbled up by developers. Now anyone – rich or poor – can walk these paths, enjoy the almost deserted beach, and sit in the museum with its big windows to enjoy an amazing view. And more importantly, one ecosystem – the type of which we are just starting to appreciate and see the necessity of – has remained largely undamaged. The Natural History Museum’s library offers a wealth of books so you can read the latest nature writing, or discover the classics with their knowledgable staff. And you never know who you’ll run into. For example I ran into natire writer David Gessner one day, author of the seminal “Return of the Osprey” and several other works.
Hay made a great point when he wrote about natural resources in his book “In Defense of Nature” way back in 1969, and who could disagree with him?  “What we call natural resources cannot be limited to gas, oil, pulpwood, or uranium, we are starving the natural resources in ourselves. The soul needs to stretch; being needs to exercise.â€
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