Ron Everhart:  

Hey gang: Its Ron Everhart the ole snake charmer; I know you all had fun making fun of this ole snake charmer, but no one knew what it was going to lead too. I still have to stand back in amazement at what has been accomplished. After high school I attended college and then was drafted into the army at the old age of 23. I was sent to Korea as a member of the peacekeeping force. I kept up my nature studies and my sargeant kept reminding me I was not a naturalist, but a soldier. I bought a camera because I thought I would never be back to that beautiful country again (been back twice). After, getting out of the Army I went to photography school and the rest of my life became more like a fairy tail. I quickly became a sought after nature photographer. I have done photography for four National Forests, two National Wildlife Refuges (Ten years at the Okefenokee Swamp) and thirteen National Parks. Yes, I lived where most people go for vacation, including living in three foreign countries. Besides being a photographer I was an interpretative naturalist. I ended up at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. Some fellow employees asked me to teach them photography. Five years later, I was teaching nature photography and environmental science at IUPUI and eight other universities in Indiana. My nature studies have also taken me back to Korea, Japan, the Philippines and the Ukraine. Of course, while I was in Europe I had to take in Symphony Concerts wherever they were held, even if I had to fly to it. I have returned from living in the Philippines photographing everything including nature and my girlfriend. Some where along the line I took some writing courses to help me be a better writer. I was required to write a paper. I chose to write about the studies I had done for the wildlife refuges and national parks. As it now stands I have written over 12,000 articles (have numerous magazine covers) and nine books (mostly on photography and or nature) and have a coffee table edition picture book titled The Plants and Animals of Indiana Volume 1. It is being hailed by the reviewers as the most beautiful books published on the natural history of Indiana. I have also written 44 western novels. I am now retired (thats a joke!). It means I do not get up to go to work at the university. It means I go from the breakfast table to the computer room, especially, in the winter. However, if the weather is right I spend four days a week photographing the natural history of Indiana and collecting native fish. I photograph the 38 species of native fish in one of my 16 aquariums and when there is spawning activity. I still conduct one-day nature photography seminars at colleges and universities and speak at environmental and/or photography conferences across the country and do magazine work. I also teach a course in writing novels, for continuing education programs in the universities and libraries around the state. Since retiring, it seems my life is busier than ever, but I would not have it any other way. I have been married twice. The first ending in a wonderful divorce in 1986. I married Alicia, a lady from ...Expand for more