Robert F. (Robert Francis) Clarke

Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1919, he became a lifelong student of reptiles and amphibians and later made his home in Emporia, Kansas. Alongside his work as a stationary engineer and freelance illustrator, he built a long career as a naturalist and educator, sharing his knowledge of biology with students and general readers.

His best-known books include Poisonous Snakes of Kansas and the scholarly study An ethological study of the iguanid lizard genera Callisaurus, Cophosaurus, and Holbrookia. Sources from the herpetological community describe him as a productive writer who published more than 50 works on herpetology and remained active in public education and conservation in Kansas.

He died in 2008. Remembered by fellow herpetologists as both a researcher and a teacher, he left behind writing that aimed to replace myth and fear with close observation and understanding.