Remembering Burt Guttman
By Deb Nickerson
It was a winter day along the shores of Capitol Lake when I first met Burt. Donning a broad smile, he was small in stature, but held us captive by his vast knowledge of the natural world, and birds, in particular. It was a field trip to look at waterfowl wintering in Olympia in our downtown lake. I was immediately taken by his humble yet erudite self. Burt was an educator of the truest kind. Having taught at The Evergreen State College for over 30 years, he retired and continued teaching, this time as a volunteer for the Black Hills Audubon Society.
Burt shared his knowledge and respect for wildlife and the intricacies of the biological world through his classes, field trips, program presentations, articles in our newsletter, The Echo, and eventual post as its editor for two years. He sparked curiosity and wonder in each of the many classes he taught for us. It was important to him to have people become aware of all the fascinating inter-related aspects of birds and their behavior so they would care about what happens to our bird populations in the future and, in turn, manifest this in their behavior as citizens.
His book, Finding Your Wings—A Workbook for Beginning Bird Watchers was an excellent text for our introductory birding course. Diving and dabbling ducks provided an avenue that Burt knew could capture our attention and interest. They are relatively large, quite colorful, easier to identify, and don’t move as readily as small songbirds. It was a key entry point to many who took his classes or attended his field trips.
Overall, Burt authored 13 textbooks and countless articles and papers in the field of Biology. Intellectual but accessible, gentle yet unequivocal in his beliefs, he demanded our attention to the fate of our natural world. Burt always made us reflect upon and ponder the woven web of our world. He was a gift to all who knew him as a friend, student, colleague, or family member. His legacy will live on in all he touched. I am so grateful to have known and worked beside him in our chapter’s offerings to the community. Our sympathy goes out to his family.
Photo: Burt Guttman with his daughter, Erica.
