This book is the compilation of the first 38 installments of my "Piedmont Naturalist" column in THE HERALD (Rock Hill, South Carolina), but in many ways it's also the culmination of my life in natural history up to now. Many people are responsible for my interest in nature, and it would be impossible to thank everyone who has influenced me along the way.

I do remember Florence E. Crusan, my seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Brookline School in Pittsburgh. This tall, knowledgeable, and loving spinster introduced me to life science topics and encouraged me to investigate everything from flower gardens to praying mantids. At Sullivan Junior High School in Rock Hill I met Mrs. Winnifred Mackey during my first year in South Carolina; as my sophomore biology teacher, she stimulated me to collect leaves and other natural history objects and made me a lab assistant during eleventh grade. Her colleague, Mrs. Lucetta Shirley taught me to love words by instructing me in Latin--a language that is anything but dead--and two years later at Rock Hill High Mrs. Lucy Good helped me learn to put those words to good use in creative writing class.

At Newberry College, Dr. Aaron O'Bier opened my eyes to biological illustration and the sex life of algae, while Hubert H. Setzler proved to me that even bacteriology can be fun. And I can never forget the influence of the late Dr. Frank L. Hoskins--eccentric master of Shakespearean literature, flamboyant and effective teacher, and one of the wittiest men I've ever known. Dr. James Cummings taught me to think outside the box and somehwat rebelliously during--of all times--Sunday School sessions in the basement of Wiles Chapel. Even Doug Dietz, my beloved roommate and fellow Frisbee master, played a role by tolerating my dormitory aquaria, as did Mike Lewis--another roomie without whom I'd never have gone collecting box turtles along the interstate in a drenching rain during final exams. Mike's brother Charlie Lewis, who accompanied me in changing majors from biology to philosphy, was a kindred soul who never minded driving miles out of the way to some bookstore where we grabbed up every discount nature volume we could find.

As I worked on my Master of Arts in Teaching at Winthrop College, Dr. John Freeman advised me well, and Dr. Luckett V. Davis took me under his wing--or was it an elytra?--for a entomology course beyond compare. At the same time, my high school students were bugging me to teach them more about nature, and I am especially in their debt for the stimulus they provided. There were many of those enthusiastic and inquisitive young scholars, of course, and there are special new ones every year, but I particularly remember Fred Nims, Russ Rogers, Melissa Ballard, and Robby Bryant; more recently, it's been Neville Yoon, Kevin Craig, Leonard Helms, and Naomi Barban who have been both friend and student. Most of those folks have also met lifelong friend and supporter Dr. Jim Shuman, the lanky cosmopolite who introduced me to West Virginia wildlife and has since cajoled me into liking everything from thrips to thrashers to Cassiopeia. Through the years, Shu has been perhaps my best audience, and my best friend.

Some of the people who taught me during my graduate school at the University of Minnesota are briefly mentioned in the Preface, but I should acknowledge the many influences of Dr. Harrison ("Bud") Tordoff. (Among other things, had he not told me I couldn't successfully study a difficult species like Blue Jays, I wouldn't have been hard-headed enough to do it!)

Now that I'm writing nature columns and putting them into book form, I could never get along without the proofreading and critical skills of my loving wife, Susan, who has been from Edisto Island to Hawk Mountain and points in between to share outdoor experiences with me. Our ten-year-old Billy has been most of those places, too, and two-year-old Garry is tottering along in his footsteps.

Rudy Mancke, creator of the nationally popular "NatureScene" program on the Public Broadcasting Service, was kind enough to write the foreword for this volume. Rudy, as first president of the South Carolina Association of Naturalists, first showed me the diversity of Piedmont nature, and I'm indebted to him in many ways.

I also thank the staff of THE HERALD, Rock Hill's daily newspaper. Publisher Wayne Patrick and editor Rusty Rein game me my first chance at a weekly column, and Jane Clute, Tom Longshaw, and Beth Harrison have edited and laid out the column with finesse. Andy Burriss and his photography crew developed my film and skillfully cropped color transparencies for publication.

In publishing the hard copy of this book, I decided to go the "modern" route, using my desk-top computer rather than a publishing house. Thus, everything in the volume is my fault. I took and printed the black-and-white photographs, set all the type on my Apple IIe computer via Appleworks word processor, and printed it our on an Imagewriter II. From there the work went to Bill Furcron at Sir Speedy Printers in Rock Hill, where he and son Craig helped with all the necessary details and provided the skilled craftmanship to print the final copy you now read.

Going a step further, in 2010 I updated the volume to take advantage of yet another technological breakthrough--the e-Book format provided by Barnes & Noble via their Nook software for Mac and Windows computers--and for Nook readers, iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, and the like. How amazing that THE PIEDMONT NATURALIST can be downloaded from the on-line B&N bookstore and carted around inside a portable electronic device and read anywhere!

Which reminds me--without all you faithful readers I wouldn't even have a column, much less a book. Your supportive comments, your suggestions, and your phone calls and inquiries about Piedmont nature have been my lifeblood and the greatest encouragement I could want, and to you I'm ever grateful. Thanks for reading, and thanks for going out to look at the intricacies of the wonderful world that surrounds us.