Richard Greenwell: 1942-2005
April 23rd, 2009
- Richard Greenwell
Richard Greenwell
1942-2005
TRIBUTE
Tribute to a friend and colleague…………….
News of the passing of Richard Greenwell was a shock to his many friends and colleagues, for it came about suddenly. Unknown to many, Richard was terminally ill with Multiple Myloma. Richard was one of the best in his field of research. The research of Cryptozoology or search for hidden and unsubstantiated life forms. Dedicated to his research to the end, Richard was on expedition in a rugged and remote part of the Siskiyou wilderness forty miles from the nearest outpost. Supplies and team had to be transported by vehicle on a dirt road over thirty miles to reach the trail head to begin the final leg of the expedition. On the last leg of the expedition, six hundred #’lbs. of supplies and special equipment had to be carried in on mules for a full days hike over some very difficult terrain.
During this last leg before arriving to their destination deep in a canyon it was obvious Richards health was failing him. After setting up base camp Richards health began to deteriorate rapidly. Richard true to his nature with a strong constitution refused to abort the expedition at the advice of colleagues even knowing that the situation was worse than he let on, for Richard knew he was dieing. Ironically Richards most successful expedition was to be his last. This was one of several expeditions over a period of nine years to this area to gather evidence to support the possible existence of unknown bipeds of which we refer to as ” BIGFOOT.” This particular area of study had been lucrative indeed. In the past Richard and team members had experienced unusual vocalizations, tree knockings, rock throwing, theft of food from their supplies and unusual bipedal human like foot prints left by nightly visitors to their camp.
Evidence of the existence of something unknown to science. Sounds, behavior and footprints too large in their dimensions to be attributed to man or any known animal. The 2005 Siskiyou expedition had been even more successful in this area than the past. After broadcasting certain sounds through out the canyons as attractants in this strategic area things began to happen during the first night. There were visitations of something as yet to be identified every night for three weeks there after. During one of the nightly visitations one of the creatures reached out and from the surrounding vegetation, pressed the tent down to feel the occupant inside. As fate would have it the unknown entity contacted the only person who had no experience in this field but “kept his cool” during the whole encounter.
This area of study, is off the grid for communications. It would be weeks before the mules would be back to take the team and equipment back to the trail head. It would take at least a week on foot to get help in case of an emergency. Dedicated to his research, with all this activity, Richard refused to abandon the expedition, inspite of his grave condition. Weeks later when it was time to abandon camp, Richard was to weak to make it with out assistance to the top of the canyon wall where the mules were waiting. To make things worse, night had fallen by the time Richard and the equipment were loaded on to the mules and the team had to negotiate the rugged mountains in the dark. To add to all these complications, one of the team members broke an ankle helping Richard scale the steep canyon wall where the mules were waiting to begin this arduous trek out.
Richard was transported to the University of Berkeley Calif. then home where he passed away two months later. Richard was the secretariat of the [ISC] International Society of Cryptozoology from it’s inception in 1982 to 2005. Richard helped found the society along with Dr. Roy Mackal……….. and Bernard Heuvelmans………… the convention for the society was held at the Smithsonian Institute. In 1982 Richard was a member of Dr. Mackal’s second Congo expedition to search for evidence of the possible existence of living dinosaurs.
Note for the skeptics……in spite of having thousands of dollars in night surveillance equipment nothing was documented except an image picked up by thermal imaging which shows something standing up right with what appears to be part of the upper head , torso , arm, and hand. There are all kinds of difficulties and complications in trying to film wild life in the wild at night or day for that matter, especially when that wild life is secretive and remains hidden in the surrounding foliage. Not to mention camera placement even if their was something to pickup. Or cameras that are powered by batteries that are powered by solar panels that weren’t working because their hadn’t been enough sunlight in an unstable environment. On the 1999 Siskayou expedition we had night cameras mounted for a solid month. Out of one months filming, when the cameras were working we filmed one rabbit, though the evidence of elk, deer, coyotes, and was every where and at least one cougar that let his presence be known.
Richard Greenwell was an English naturalist, explorer, historian, and writer. He attended boarding schools for two years where he learned Spanish fluently. In the 1950’s while growing up in England, he embarked on a life long interest in natural history under the tutelage of aquatic biologist John Clegg, curator of the Haslemere Museum. He joined the Air Training Corps [ATC] the youth cadet division of the Royal Air Force [RAF] and later personally located and documented Japanese world war two aircraft wrecks in Papua New Guinea. After attending college for two years in London.
Richard moved to South America for six years where he.about the ecology and wildlife of that continent. In 1976 he returned to academic studies at the University of Arizona where he was research coordinator of the Office of Arid Lands Studies in the College of Earth Sciences. In 2001 he was appointed research associate in mammalogy in the Dept. of ZoologicaL Collections of the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson. Beginning in the 1970’s, Richards interests in natural history and zoology, particularly as related to mammals, began to focus on ecology, zoogeography, systematics and taxonomy, paleontology, human and primate evolution, and primate behavior.
For many years, he maintained his own colony of Amazonian tamarin monkeys, and he collected many zoological specimens from around the world for universities and museums. His natural history library numberd almost 2,ooo volumes. In the 1980’s, his zoological interests expanded further to include the field of Cryptozoology, the scholarly evaluation of evidence for animals that are reported anecdotally but remain scientifically unverified. In 1982, he and 14 other scientists from around the world founded the International Society of Cryptozoology [ISC] at a meeting hosted by the the U.S. National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. Richard was appointed its permanent Secretary and Editor of Publications. Over the years, he organized many ISC conferences, and, as editor of the scholarly journal Cryptozoology, he was personally responsible for the editing and publishing of 376 manuscripts. Richard also participated in, or led, numerous Cryptozoology expeditions to various remote parts of the world, including China, the Congo, and New Guinea. He also led numerous scientific field projects in the Siskiyou wilderness of Northern California in a continuing attempt to determine the possible existence of the supposed large bipedal entity known as the Sasquatch or Bigfoot.
Richard called himself a slave to objectivity and the scientific method, and his Cryptozoological activities, whether they involved theoretical work or fieldwork, followed that same philosophy. He himself was the author of several books and over 100 scholarly and popular articles. He also was once a columnist for Britain’s BBC Wildlife Magazine. A member of numerous scientific societies, Richard was also a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical society [London] and the Explorers Club [New York]. He served on both the Expeditions Committee and the Youth Fund Committee of the Explorers Club, and was also chairman of its Southwest Chapter.
After his experiences in almost 30 countries on five continents, Richard had little patience with braggarts and charlatans. He preferred the company of thinkers, but only those who, like himself, were modest about it. Although much of his life revolved around scholarly pursuits, and he was once awarded an honorary PH.D., he himself never attempted to obtain an earned doctorate. He was always to busy doing research, spending time with his family and friends, traveling, reading, lecturing, and writing. He was also a quest on dozens of television shows and documentaries. Although he’ll be remembered for his curiosity, his creativity, his integrity, and his good will, Richard’s most memorable attribute may have been his sense of humor, and he was particularly fond of double entendres and linguistic twists. There were no enterprises or experiences-even adverse ones, when he himself was the victim-in which he didn’t somehow inject humor.
He once complained to a doctor in the hospital that, although he’d been taking his seizure pills daily, as prescribed, “nothing ever happens- I haven’t had a single seizure!”.
Richard loved the swamps as I do. While trekking in the Big Cypress swamp in south Florida, Richard said to me, now I know why you come down here, this place reminds me of the Congo. Richard had the mind of a scientist and the sense of adventure of a child.
During our investigation of the Turner River and Burns Rd. swamp ape sightings I was following Richard through the swamp when Richard turned back to look at me and motioned to be silent, he whispered to me he had seen something white moving rapidly through the trees ahead of us, then informed me there are reports of white Bigfeet. After a couple of more hours sledging through the swamps we had a closer look at what Richard had seen earlier, it was a white tail deer. At the time Richard could only make out the tail of the deer standing straight up as it moved quickly through the trees.
I know Richard always anticipated in seeing something unusual but was realistic in his final evaluation of the data. I once stumbled upon what appeared to be an unusual human like foot print in a swampy area and I was elated. Finding Richard I brought him back to the spot. Richard simply turned the leaves over and exposed claw marks at the front of the toes. The track was simply that of a large bear with an over lapping print. Richard had quick wit, a great sense of humor and may have been hopeful but he was serious in his research.
Often I would see a light in his tent till wee hours in the night. Asking him why he was up so late, Richard replied “I read three hours every night, that’s why I know so much” Indeed he did for he could elaborate on just about any subject extensively. With Richard their was never a dull moment. Having a photographic mind with a degree in Psychology, and a great sense of humor Richard could always flash back in time to share some special moments or inject something humorous that was always up lifting.
One of the most amusing memories was in the Siskiyou wilderness one morning when a bear came into camp. I heard our utensils being moved around. I looked through the screen of my tent to see a large bear making some noise. Awakened in his tent, whose opening was facing my blind side and thinking I was making the commotion, Richard hollered “Ronnie knock it off”, when I informed him that it wasn’t me, it was a bear, he hollered, why didn’t you tell me, as he immediately came out of his tent in his shorts with pistol at the ready.
After yelling and throwing rocks the bear refuse to budge. Only after firing a shot into the ground did the bear flee into the woods, from my line of view I could see the bear take off into the woods with Richard in hot pursuit in his shorts, pistol in hand pointed skyward, only to see a moment later Richard running out of the woods in his shorts pistol pointed to the sky with Bear in hot pursuit!
Thanks for the memories, I will truly miss sharing the adventure!…………….Ronnie Roseman