Alexander Skutch

We have carried many books written by this eminent naturalist, but knew little about him other than the fact that he lived simply in the Costa Rican Rainforest.  The following letter was posted to the Colorado Birds listserv, and written by the illustrator of two books that we carry, Birds of Costa Rica and Birds of Belize.

This posting on COBIRDS was dated 5/27/04 by Peter Gent.  Peter explained that Dana Gardner did the illustrations in the Birds of Costa Rica, coauthored by Skutch.

Dear Folks,

I just returned from five weeks in Costa Rica to find dozens of e-mails
commenting on Alexander Skutch's recent death.  This prompted me to send you all
this letter telling of my visit with him during the last week of his life.

As many of you know, for the past 28 years I have made yearly pilgrimages to
Skutch's farm, Los Cusingos, to visit and do some painting in the peace and
quiet of his little patch of tropical forest.  This year I planned my trip to
coincide with his 100th birthday.  A couple of weeks before the event, however,
I went down to stay with him for a few days.  I am very, very glad that I did,
as he passed away eight days short of his birthday.  Because it was
unseasonably rainy, I set up my painting table in the end sala where Skutch would sit
and read each morning, and we kept each other company.  Although Alexander had
been deteriorating physically for the last couple of years, was confined to a
wheel chair, and had become hard of hearing, he remained mentally alert and in
very high spirits.  Last year when I arrived for a visit I found him reading
a book on planetary physics.  (He asked me what I thought of the Big Bang
Theory.)  This year he was rereading many of his own books that he had written
years earlier.  He told me he was refreshing his memory.  He still received
occasional visitors, and graciously welcomed them, apologizing for not being able
to rise to greet them.  He wished them a pleasant walk in his forest, something
he had been unable to do for several years, but he enjoyed hearing about what
birds they saw.

Only on the next to the last day of my stay did a nagging cough rapidly
escalate to the point where he could barely talk and his breathing became erratic
and labored.  I sat with him that night and held his hand; I was sure he was
about to die.  He half opened his eyes, saw me, and struggled to tell me
something.  I thought I was to hear the last words of this wise old naturalist, and
they turned out to be a request to have a dentist appointment made for him the
next week!!!  His tired old decrepit body was sending him a message, but he
was having none of that - he was making plans for the future.  I realized then
that he wouldn't die quite yet.  The next day was my planned departure day.  He
had quit coughing and had slept well, had eaten breakfast, and was once again
reading.  It was a gorgeous sunny morning, the first sunny morning in more
than a week of overcast weather.  A beautiful Turquoise Cotinga came out to sun
itself in a bare tree at the edge of the yard.  I left Los Cusingos in the
early afternoon and planned to return for his 100th birthday party the next week,
but I found out later that Alexander's health quickly deteriorated in the
afternoon, and he died peacefully early that evening.

He was buried at Los Cusingos, as he wished, a few feet from the worn out,
but still beautiful, old house that he built by hand some 62 years ago.  Nearly
100 people showed up for the interment, including neighbors of many years,
birdwatchers young and old, and a group of school children in their uniforms.

I have many fond memories of my visits with Alexander and Pamela Skutch over
the years, and my best paintings were made in the tranquility of Los Cusingos.
A very keen observer of the natural world, Skutch wrote 30 some books on
general natural history and travel, the habits of birds, and religion and
philosophy.  His detailed life histories of over 300 species of tropical birds are
great contributions to neotropical ornithology.  He was nevertheless a very
modest and humble man, and he had perhaps the simplest personal philosophy of
anyone I've ever met--- Don't do anything that hurts other feeling creatures, and
live simply and modestly so as not to tax the environment and its resources.
He lived by these principles every day of his long life.

I will miss him, as will the many people who enjoyed visiting Los Cusingos
and continue to enjoy reading his many books.  I may still go and visit Los
Cusingos, however, as it is now a sanctuary for neotropical birds run by the
Tropical Science Center.  Visits by tourists, birdwatchers, and researchers are
encouraged.  The yard and pasture by the river will be turned into a botanical
garden, and Skutch's old house will be restored and turned into a museum.  An
anthology of his writings will be put out shortly by Axios Press.

Sincerely,
Dana Gardner

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