Shelton, Napier 1931-

PERSONAL:

Born December 2, 1931, in Washington, DC; son of Frederick D. (a lawyer, journalist, and economist) and Charline (a homemaker) Shelton; married Elizabeth Worth (a diplomat), June 6, 1964; children: Eleanor Shelton Loikits, Elizabeth Shelton Dawson, Martha. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Amherst College, B.A., 1955; Duke University, M.A., 1963; University of Michigan, Ph.D., 1974. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Episcopal. Hobbies and other interests: Birdwatching.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Washington, DC. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

U.S. News & World Report, Washington, DC, editorial assistant, 1957-60; National Park Service, Washington, DC, writer and editor, 1963-64, editor of scientific publications, 1978-81, technical writer and editor, 1985-94. Military service: U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1949-51.

MEMBER:

Audubon Naturalist Society (vice president for publications during the 1970s; member of board of directors, 1991-94), Cosmos Club (Washington, DC).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Blue Pencil Award, Association of Government Communicators, 1975, for The Nature of Shenandoah.

WRITINGS:

Saguaro National Monument, National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1970.

The Nature of Shenandoah, National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1971.

The Life of Isle Royale, National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1975.

(Coauthor) Great Smoky Mountains National Park, National Park Service (Washington, DC), 1978.

Superior Wilderness: Isle Royale National Park, Isle Royale Natural History Association (Houghton, MI), 1996.

Huron: The Seasons of a Great Lake, Wayne State University Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

Where to Watch Birds in Azerbaijan, privately printed, 2004.

Natural Missouri: Working with the Land, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Napier Shelton told CA: "I write about my primary interests—nature and the environment—to share my knowledge and concerns. In recent years conservation and environmental issues increasingly occupy me, because the nature/earth I love is under growing attack.

"I've been interested in nature since I was six years old, and I was encouraged to write about it by my journalist father, Frederick Shelton.

"In the past, writing nonfiction books, I usually worked on them from about nine to five. Nowadays, at age seventy-four, I work shorter, more irregular hours. I also decided to try a novel, with a rough idea about what will happen, but I am letting it develop the way it seems to want to develop."