Peter Farb (1929–1980) was an American author, anthropologist, linguist and naturalist.Pyan, Gabrielle. 2003

Biography

Farb was born July 25, 1929, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Solomon and Cecelia Farb. In 1950, he graduated ''magna cum laude'' from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

graduate school from 1950 to 1951. He married museum director and painter Oriole Horch in 1953, and together they had two sons, Mark Daniel and Thomas Forest. Peter Farb was a freelance writer in the areas of the natural and human sciences for many years, authoring many acclaimed books, including several books for young readers, and columns in national magazines such as '' Better Homes and Gardens'' and ''

Reader’s Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

''. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

's Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, described him as "one of the finest conservation spokesmen of our period". He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Farb died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

on April 8, 1980, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. At the time of his death, he had been working with Irven DeVore on a new book, ''The Human Experience: A Textbook of Anthropology''.

Dates of interest

1950–1952: ''

Argosy Magazine ''Argosy'', later titled ''The Argosy'', ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' and ''The New Golden Argosy'', was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey until its sale to Popular Publications in 1942. It is the first ...

'' feature editor 1960–1961: editor-in-chief of the publishing agent Panorama until the project sponsored by the

Columbia Broadcasting System CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

ended. 1964–1971: Curator for American Indian Cultures,

Riverside Museum The Riverside Museum (formerly known as the Glasgow Museum of Transport) is a museum in Glasgow, housed in a building at Pointhouse Quay in the Glasgow Harbour regeneration district of Glasgow, Scotland. The building opened in June 2011, winnin ...

, New York, N.Y. 1971: National Book Awards Committee Judge 1971–1972: visiting lecturer,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

1971–1978: Fellow of

Calhoun College John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia * Calhoun, Illinois *Calhoun, Kansas *Calhoun, Kentucky ...

, Yale University 1976:

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

Libraries Trustee 1966–1971: Consultant to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, Washington D.C.

Books

#1959: ''Living Earth''Library of Congress Online Catalog
Control No:79000366 #1959: ''The Insect World'' #1959: ''The Story of Butterflies and Other Insects'' (children's book) #1961: ''The Story of Dams'' (children's book) #1962: ''The Story of Life: Plants and Animals Through the Ages'' #1962, 1977 (2nd Ed.): ''The Insects'' (Series: LIFE Nature Library) #1963, 1979 (Revised Ed.): ''Ecology'' (Series: LIFE Nature Library) #1964: ''The Face of North America'' (Young Reader's Edition) #1964, 1978 (2nd Ed.): ''The Land and Wildlife of North America'' (Series: LIFE Nature Library) #1964: ''Face of America: The Natural History of a Continent'' (selected for the ''

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'' and became extremely popular. Added to President

's International White House Library, whereby President Kennedy presented it to the heads of a hundred foreign governments). #1966: ''The Atlantic Shore: Human and Natural History from Long Island to Labrador'' by Peter Farb and John Hay #1967: ''The Land, Wildlife, and Peoples of the Bible'' (children's book) #1968: ''Man's Rise to Civilization As Shown by the Indians of North America from Primeval Times to the Coming of the Industrial State'' #1970: ''Yankee Doodle'' #1973: ''Word Play: What Happens when People Talk'' (selected for the ''

'') . #1978 (2nd Ed.): ''Man’s Rise to Civilization: The Cultural Ascent of the Indians of North America'' #1978: ''The Forest'' (Series: LIFE Science Library) #1978: ''Humankind'' #1980: ''Consuming Passions - The Anthropology of Eating'' by Peter Farb & George J. Armelagos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farb, Peter American ecologists Linguists from the United States American naturalists 1929 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American anthropologists 20th-century linguists 20th-century naturalists