Alan Conrad Ziegler
Alan Ziegler, age 73, died on September 16. As anyone who met him can attest, he was a remarkable man.
Passionate about Hawai’i’s endangered species, he labored tirelessly to protect them from harm. If it meant suing the state, he did so twice, in fact, to ensure that the endangered palila would have secure habitat. If it meant battling misguided plans by legislators to promote aquaculture of freshwater eels, he did so year after year after year. If it meant protesting institutional policies that flagged in their advancement of the interests of Hawaiian biota, he did so resigning from the Bishop Museum in 1983, where he was head of its vertebrate zoology division.
Ziegler was born in Galveston, Texas, and spent his formative years in Georgia and Tennessee. His Southern background was apparent in a lingering soft drawl and gentlemanly ways. In his youth, he hitchhiked around the United States, finding casual work at a variety of spots, including Yellowstone National Park. He signed on as a merchant seaman while in his teens, then served in the Air Force during the Korean conflict.
In the 1960s, Ziegler enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. At this time, he joined the Freedom Riders in signing up African-American voters in the South, perhaps the most dramatic statement of his lifelong commitment to civil liberties.
Ziegler moved to Hawai’i in 1967 to take a position with Bishop Museum. After his resignation, he worked as an independent zoological consultant and wrote many scientific articles and chapters in books on archaeology and zoology. Just last year he saw the publication of his magnum opus, Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution (University of Hawai’i Press, 2002). He was an avid outdoorsman, becoming the first person to circumnavigate in a kayak the six largest Hawaiian islands. He led frequent nature walks, most often to his beloved sinkholes on Campbell Estate land in ‘Ewa, O’ahu.
He died at Straub Hospital in Honolulu, following a period of failing health. He is survived by his wife, Keiko, a daughter, Marjorie, who is a member of the board of Environment Hawai’I, a son, Walter, all of O’ahu; and sister, Marjorie Wilson, of St. Louis.
Volume 14, Number 4 October 2003
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