Because knowledge derived from passion never dies, especially when inspired by the dedication of someone like Gary Brusca. His legacy lives on in me, in my students, and eventually (I hope) in theirs. One that although I actually only met for a few hours, inspired me, along with Professor Montgomery and a host of mentors, into a lifetime of dedication to invertebrates and marine biology. So I reproduce here obituaries and poems as a tribute to an amazing man. To instill his devotion to natural history in students, a tradition that is fading away but Humboldt State University is still known for, and to carry the legacies of Ed Ricketts and Joel Hedgpeth, which he upheld, moving forward. To remind them that once a giant among men walked these halls, explored these shores, and wrote poetry about life. Intimidating to both instructors and students alike.Īnd so I feel compelled to keep his great memory alive in the current generation of students. Invertebrates: the classic and ultra-challenging textbook that covers 95% of the animal kingdom.
For although he has been gone for 18 years, he is still very much alive here in the classrooms through the amazing textbooks he wrote with his brother Gary, including A Naturalist’s Seashore Guide, and their classic textbook, Invertebrates. Walking the halls of the Trinidad marine lab and rummaging through the slides and specimen collection in the classrooms, I can see and feel the presence of his love for natural history, his thoughtful collections, the detail of his carefully inscribed labels, and the passion he had for teaching his students. It was both intimidating and challenging but yet, here I am, 40 years later, a Professor of Biology and Director of Humboldt State University’s Marine Laboratory making a feeble attempt to do exactly the same thing with my students that I learned at Cal Poly.īut it was here at Humboldt, from 1967-1998, that Gary became the living legend he is is known for today. My advisor and zoology Professor Dave Montgomery never hesitated to mention the near-miraculous accomplishments of the mythical brothers that preceded us as undergraduate students before getting their PhDs: how they knew this, or studied for that, or memorized thousands of scientific names feats us mortals would be lucky to even approximate. Photos: unknown.įrom Nature’s Law by Waren Stauls (aka Gary Brusca):Īs an undergraduate student at Cal Poly (SLO) in the mid-1970s I was educated in the shadow of the giants before me, Gary and Richard Brusca. Rick Brusca (left) on Trinidad Pier in Northern California, 1970s.
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