Mrs. Terwilliger

Just last week, Annie Pierson and I were discussing Elizabeth Terwilliger and whether or not she was still alive. She has been a nature conservationist and activist in Marin for over fifty years (hell, she was my counselor at Brownie Camp when I was 7 years old!). Anyway, imagine my surprise when I discovered the article in today's Independent Journal - she just passed away at age 97.
Whenever she wanted to call your attention to an animal, a plant, a tidepool, anything in nature, really, Mrs. Terwilliger would shout "Boys and girls, something special!" and we always knew she meant what she said. She taught us how to tell ravens from crows (most large black birds in Marin are California Ravens), turkey buzzards from vultures, and how to find the smallest speck of life in a tidepool. She taught the kids to enjoy running in the sand dunes, wading in the water, falling backwards into tall reeds (something which scared me to death), and how not to be afraid of nature's more sinister creatures.

Here are some photos that I took at Point Reyes and Limantour 17 years ago. Whoa! Brian was eight years old. He is the little blond in the Giants shirt.
I found a whole bunch of photos that I took about 17 years ago (Mrs. T had just turned 80) out at Point Reyes and Limantour Beach on one of Mrs. T's famous nature walks. I am going to scan and upload them later but I think I better get ready to go to the radio station now.