Clair Willard Perry (1887–1961), called Clay Perry, was an American writer and outdoorsman. He coined the term " spelunker".

Biography

Born in 1887 in Waupaca, Wisconsin, Perry moved to western Massachusetts as a young man. A novelist, short story writer, and journalist, in the 1930s he worked for the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...

. He is best known as an amateur

caver Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...

and as a writer on the caves of New England and the northeastern United States. He is credited with coining the term "spelunker" in the 1940s. He was also the author of a light verse on Israel Bissell, whose ride in April 1775 to warn the colonies of the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

was overshadowed in historical lore by that of

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

. He died in 1961 in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

Works

*''Underground New England''. Brattleboro, VT: Stephen Daye Press, 1939. *''New England's Buried Treasure''. New York: Stephen Daye Press, 1946. *''Underground Empire: Wonders and Tales of New York Caves''. New York: Stephen Daye Press, 1948. *''Caves in the Vicinity of Pittsfield, Massachusetts''

External links

Israel Bissell in Verse and Song (Hinsdale-Mass Forum)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Clay American cavers 1887 births 1961 deaths People from Waupaca, Wisconsin Writers from Massachusetts Writers from Wisconsin