In memory of Hillis L. Howie,
(1903-1982) amateur naturalist —
A good man who
took me and my best friend Ben Hitz
and some other boys
out to the American Wild West
from Indianapolis, Indiana,
in the summer of 1938.
Mr. Howie introduced us to real Indians
and has us sleep out of doors every night
and bury our dung,
and he taught us how to ride horses,
and he told us the names of many plants
and animals
and what they needed to do
in order to stay alive
and reproduce themselves.
One night Mr. Howie scared us half to death
on purpose,
screaming like a wildcat near our camp.
A real wildcat screamed back.
— Dedication from Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut