Erma Johnson "Jonnie" Fisk (5 August 1905 – 11 January 1990) was an nature writer and amateur ornithologist, noted for her study of the least tern.

Biography

Erma Johnson graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

, where she participated in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

as a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er. On August 7, 1926, she married the wealthy financier Bradley Fisk, lived in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, and became the mother of three children. When Bradley Fisk was United States Assistant Secretary of Commerce from 1957 to 1961 in the

Eisenhower administration Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following a landslide victory ov ...

, Erma J. Fisk was a hostess in Washington D.C. After she was widowed at age 55, she became a full-time field naturalist and assisted ornithologists in various parts of the Western Hemisphere. When Fisk was 73, she briefly worked with the Nature Conservancy in Baboquivari Peak, Arizona. (book review of ''The Peacocks of Baboquivari'' At the age of 75, she began writing books and soon became a literary celebrity. She traveled the lecture circuit in her

Volkswagen Rabbit The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates ...

to visit colleges and attend signings at bookstores and women's clubs. In 1952, the Fisks first visited

Guana Island Guana Island is an island of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in the Caribbean. One of the few remaining privately owned islands in its part of the world, Guana has seven white powder-sand beaches and of tropical forest, mountains, hills, ...

in the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = "Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Brit ...

and had a cottage built there. In 1952, Jonnie Fisk started sending ornithological reports from Guana Island to the ornithologist

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

in Philadelphia.

Family

The three children of Bradley and Erma Fisk were Bradley Jr. (1927–1997), Irving Lester (1928–1984), and Amanda (born 1936). The poet and radio personality Molly Fisk is a granddaughter of Erma J. Fisk.

Selected books

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisk, Erma Johnson 1905 births 1990 deaths Vassar College alumni American nature writers American ornithologists Women ornithologists 20th-century American zoologists