Noted educator and zoologist, Enid Larson was born near Bishop, California in 1905 of an Eastern Sierra pioneering family. Her family was forced to sell their land and move from the Owens Valley in 1923.

She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in biology and taught for years in Oroville, Carmel and Walnut Creek high schools. Her teaching won national recognition in a 1957 Reader’s Digest article, “The Teacher Who Won’t Answer Questions.” So inspiring was her teaching that 25 per cent of her biology students, reportedly went on to major in science.

Her life-long study of Merriam’s chipmunk gave her her the nickname “The Chipmunk Lady” and resulted in the publication of the classic work on rodent behavior: “Merriam’s Chipmunk on Palo Escrito in the Santa Lucia Mountains of California.”

Retiring from teaching, Enid returned to the Owens Valley in 1970, where she continued to work for the preservation of local ecosystems. She was active in local politics, the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, Friends of the Earth, and was a co-founder and first Vice-President of the  Universal Pantheist Society serving since its founding in 1975 until her death in 1991.

To learn more about Enid, see this special issue of Pantheist Vision: April, 1991 – Enid Larson: In Memorium (PDF) – on the box.com file sharing site.