Linda Lear has always been intrigued by how the lives of artists and writers have been influenced in th natural world. She discovered quite by accident that before Beatrix Potter began her legendary series of "little books" for children she had been an avid student of natural history and might have had a career in science had such opportunities been available to women. As Lear explored Potter's evolution from amateur scientist of the land, she herself became an admirer of Lakeland's farms, fells, and sheep. A professor of environmental history and the author of the prize-winning biography, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature, Lear is an enthusiastic horticulturist and collector of botanical art. She and her husband live in Bethesda, Maryland.