Dale Peterson (born November 20, 1944) is an American author who writes about scientific and natural history subjects.

Early life and education[link]

Dale Alfred Peterson was born and raised in Corning, New York, a small town known for glass manufacturing in western New York State. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1967 (BA in English and Psychology), then began graduate studies at Stanford University, first in the writing program under Wallace Stegner, later in the English Department. Stanford awarded him a Ph.D. in English and American Literature in 1977.[1]

Writing[link]

The Vietnam War caused a break in graduate studies, however. As a conscientious objector, Peterson was assigned to alternative service in 1971 at a large U.S. Veterans Administration hospital, working as an attendant on a lock-up ward for severely disturbed or mentally ill patients, many of them diagnosed as schizophrenic. He wrote a novel loosely based on his experiences, which was never published, and began work on a non-fiction treatment of the social and psychological experiences of the mentally ill. That study became an insider’s history of mental illness based on autobiographical accounts of madness written during the nearly five and a half centuries between 1436 and 1976: published at last as A Mad People’s History of Madness (1982).[2]

After receiving the doctorate, meanwhile, he turned to carpentry, becoming a high-end finish carpenter engaged in remodeling houses in Silicon Valley, incidentally developing some friendships and connections with various people in the computer industry. Steve Jobs, a young man who had recently started his own hi-tech company named after a piece of fruit, for example, gave him one of the early Apple II computers.

Using that remarkable little machine as a word processor, Peterson turned away from carpentry and settled down to writing, first with four books about computers (personal computers, computers in the arts and education, and programming). In partnership with John O’Neill, a fine artist from London who had emigrated to California in order to design artistic games, he also helped create a computer game on the theme of interspecies communication, The Dolphins’ Pearl, which was released in 1984.[3]

The Dolphins’ Pearl marked Peterson’s turn away from intelligent machines and towards intelligent animals. He decided to write about primates, a subject he then learned about through library research combined with a long and arduous trip—by plane, bus, boat, and on foot—into tropical forests around the world: going from southeastern Brazil and down the Amazon River; to West, Central, East Africa, and Madagascar; and from there to southern India, Borneo, Sumatra, and the Mentawai Islands. His proximate goal was to find the twelve most endangered primates (monkeys, apes, and prosimians) in the world. His ultimate goal was to write a book about those animals and their fate. Published in 1989, The Deluge and the Ark: A Journey into Primate Worlds was short-listed for the Sir Peter Kent Conservation Prize in Great Britain.

It also attracted the attention of Dr. Jane Goodall, the pioneering primatologist, who went on to join Peterson in writing a book about the ethical issues of using chimpanzees in captivity and the conservation problems threatening chimpanzees in the wild. Translated into Chinese, German, and Polish, Visions of Caliban: On Chimpanzees and People (1993) was distinguished as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a Library Journal Best of the Year.[4]

With Harvard University biological anthropologist Professor Richard Wrangham, Peterson co-authored the classic evolutionary study of human violence Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence (1996), which has been translated into nine foreign languages and honored by The Village Voice as Best of the Year. In 1995, meanwhile, he saw the publication of a light-hearted book about his travels into obscure parts of Africa looking for chimpanzees (Chimpanzee Travels), while a second travel book, describing a 20,000-mile road trip taken with his two children in the United States (Storyville USA) appeared in 1999.

Peterson also turned to biography. Through collecting and editing hundreds of her personal letters, he produced a highly personal, two-volume “epistolary autobiography” of Jane Goodall: Africa in My Blood (2000) and Beyond Innocence (2001). He next wrote Goodall’s only full (according to Nature magazine, the “definitive”) biography, Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man (2006). The New York Times honored it as a Notable Book of the Year, while the Boston Globe called it Best of the Year.[6]

During this general period, moreover, he joined forces with photographer Karl Ammann to tour Central Africa and produce a shocking exposé of the trade in ape meat, Eating Apes (2003), which was pronounced Best of the Year by the Denver Post, Discover, The Economist, and the Globe and Mail.[7] Subsequent African and Asian travels with photographer Ammann resulted in Elephant Reflections (2009) and Giraffe Reflections (2012). Additional recent works include The Moral Lives of Animals (2011) and a play for children entitled Jane of the Apes, which was co-authored with Randel Wright.

PEN New England[link]

As a member of the executive board of PEN New England, Peterson has been active in promoting nature writing and writers through the creation of the Henry David Thoreau Prize for Literary Excellence in Nature Writing. Recent recipients of the prize include Gretel Ehrlich, E. O. Wilson, and Gary Snyder. Peterson also lectures part-time in the English Department at Tufts University.[8]

List of works[link]

• The Moral Lives of Animals (New York: Bloomsbury, 2011) ISBN 978-1-59691-424-7.
• Elephant Reflections (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009).
• Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006) ISBN 978-0-395-85405-1
• Eating Apes (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).
• Beyond Innocence (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001). Edited.
• Africa in My Blood (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000). Edited
• Storyville USA (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1999).
• Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996). Co-authored with Richard Wrangham.
• Chimpanzee Travels (Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1995).
• Visions of Caliban (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993). Co-authored with Jane Goodall.
• The Deluge and the Ark: A Journey into Primate Worlds (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989).
• The Dolphins’ Pearl (Reston, VA: Admacadium / Reston Computer / Prentice-Hall, 1985). Co-designed with John O’Neill.
• CoCo Logo (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1985).
• Intelligent Schoolhouse: On Computers and Learning (Reston, VA: Reston, 1984). Edited.
• Genesis II: Creation and Recreation with Computers (Reston, VA: Reston, 1983).
• Big Things From Little Computers (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982).
• A Mad People’s History of Madness (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982).

References[link]

1. Some biographical material from “What’s New: Tisch Library: Tufts University podcast interview, June 30, 2008.
2. See Reaume, Geoffrey. “Mad People’s History.” Radical History Review 2006 (94): 170-182.
3. O’Neill, John, with Dale Peterson. The Dolphins’ Pearl. Reston, VA: Admacadium / Reston Computer / Prentice-Hall, 1985.
4. “Notable Books of the Year 1993.” New York Times (Arts). December 5, 1993.
5. McGrew, W. C. “Book Reviewed: Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man.” Nature 443. October 26, 2006.
6. “100 Notable Books of the Year.” The New York Times (Books), December 3, 2006; Kenney, Michael. “The Best Nonfiction of 2006.” Boston Globe, December 3, 2006.
7. “Best Books of the Year: Home Entertainment.” The Economist, December 4, 2003; “Reviews Best of 2003,” Discover, December 2003.
8. http://ase.tufts.edu/english/faculty/peterson.asp

Roy Barnes
Barnes giving a speech after failing to return to the position of Governor of Georgia in the 2010 elections.
80th Governor of Georgia
In office January 11, 1999 – January 13, 2003
Lieutenant	Mark Taylor
Preceded by	Zell Miller
Succeeded by	Sonny Perdue
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 33rd district
In office November 3, 1992 – November 3, 1998
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Don Wix
Member of the Georgia Senate from the 33rd district
In office November 5, 1974 – November 6, 1990
Preceded by	Jack Henderson
Succeeded by	Steve Thompson
Personal details
Born	( 1948-03-11) March 11, 1948 (age 64) Mableton, Georgia
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Marie Dobbs Barnes
Children	Harlan Barnes Allison Barnes Salter Alyssa Barnes
Residence	Marietta, Georgia
Alma mater	University of Georgia (A.B.) University of Georgia School of Law (J.D.)
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Methodist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army Reserve
Years of service	1973–1979
Rank	Captain
"Roy Barnes" in the New Georgia Encyclopedia

Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948) served as the 80th Governor of Georgia from January 1999 until January 2003. Barnes was also a candidate for Governor of Georgia in the 2010 election.^[1]

In 2003, Barnes was awarded the Profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Library for his success while governor of minimizing the Confederate battle emblem on the Georgia state flag despite the political fallout. It is widely believed that his support of the flag change significantly contributed to his re-election defeat in 2002.^[2]

Early life, education and family[link]

Roy Barnes was born on March 11, 1948 in Mableton, Georgia. His family owned a general store, which gave him his first exposure to politics as he listened to the conversations of the store patrons.^[3]

Upon his graduation from South Cobb High School, Barnes enrolled at the University of Georgia. He was active on the debate team and spent his summers returning home to work in the family store. He graduated with a degree in history in 1969 and one year later married Marie Dobbs of Marietta, Georgia, with whom he has had three children.^[3] Roy and Marie currently have six grandchildren.^[4]

After college, Barnes enrolled in the University of Georgia School of Law. While there, he was elected president of the student bar association and was named outstanding senior. He graduated from law school in 1972 with honors and returned to Cobb county to work as a prosecutor in the Cobb County District Attorney's Office.^[3]

Georgia General Assembly[link]

Georgia Senate[link]

Barnes’ political career began in 1974, when he was elected by the citizens of Mableton to the Georgia State Senate.^[3] Upon his election, Barnes became the youngest member of the Georgia Senate at age 26.^[5] Barnes went on to serve eight terms in the Georgia Senate.^[6]

After his second term, he was named floor leader to Governor Joe Frank Harris and was appointed chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.^[6] During his tenure in the Georgia Senate, he also served on the Senate Appropriations, Rules, and Transportation committees, and had a major leadership role in rewriting the Georgia constitution as chair of the Select Committee on Constitutional Revision.^[5]

1990 gubernatorial election[link]

After eight terms in the Georgia Senate, Barnes entered the 1990 gubernatorial election.^[6] He faced Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Lt. Governor Zell Miller in the Democratic Primary.^[7] Barnes was defeated by Miller, who later won the election and became an ally of Barnes.^[6]

Georgia House of Representatives[link]

Barnes returned to politics in 1992, when he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. He was appointed vice-chair of the Judiciary Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on General Law. During his tenure in the Georgia House, he also served on the Rules and Banks and Banking Committees.^[6]

Governor of Georgia[link]

1998 gubernatorial election[link]

In 1998, Barnes ran for governor again, this time defeating Secretary of State Lewis Massey to win the Democratic primary.^[8] Running on the themes of education reform and health care reform,^[6] he defeated Republican businessman Guy Millner in the general election with a victory of 53% to 44% to become the 80th Governor of Georgia.^[9]

The Democrats retained control of both houses of the legislature^[10] and retained all but two state level offices (Republicans were elected Insurance Commissioner and School Superintendent).^[9]

Record as Governor[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2010)

Georgia state flag from 1956 to 2001 with rebel flag emblem that was removed during Barnes governorship

Georgia state flag from 2001 to 2003

Current Georgia state flag since 2003

Barnes's tenure as governor was marked by accomplishment. In January 1999 after being elected Governor, Barnes’ first act of his new administration was to sign an order banning all lobbyist gifts to employees working in the executive branch. (AJC, 1/12/99). Roy Barnes also took executive action to change the flag of the state of Georgia, despite opposition from several vocal minority groups. The state flag had featured the Confederate battle emblem since 1956, the year the Civil Rights Movement gained momentum. His education reform measures included eliminating tenure for newly hired teachers and ending social promotion by requiring students to pass a test before advancing to the next grade. He also set up Georgia's Child Advocate Office and signed the Terrell Peterson Act to protect children at risk. He supported the building of the Northern Arc, an outer perimeter north of Atlanta, which met with opposition from the locals.^{[citation needed]} During most of his tenure, his former law partner, State Senator Charles B. Tanksley served as his floor manager in the Georgia Senate.

2002 gubernatorial election[link]

Facing re-election, he lost in an upset in November 2002 as part of a larger Republican midterm sweep.^[11] Although some commentators have pointed to the ire of voters opposing the flag change and his upsetting of teachers as leading to his defeat, the cause was finally attributed toward a strong shift to GOP within that election cycle across many offices in the State of Georgia, at that time.^[6] Barnes was defeated by Sonny Perdue, the first Republican to be elected Governor of Georgia since Reconstruction.^[11]

According to Georgia Trend, "Democrat Roy Barnes was one of the most powerful governors in history. His nickname "King Roy" was an affectionate term accorded him by supporters because he knew how to pull the levers and make things happen in the legislature."^[12]

Return to legal career[link]

Following his defeat, Barnes decided to lend his talents to Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc., working for six months as a full-time volunteer. During this time, he provided legal advice to indigent clients pro bono, and established a website outlining the rights of consumers: www.myconsumerrights.com.^[3]

Profile in Courage Award[link]

For his leadership in minimizing the Confederate battle emblem on the Georgia state flag despite the political fallout, Barnes was awarded the 2003 Profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Library.^[2]

Barnes Law Group[link]

Upon completing his service at Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Barnes founded the Barnes Law Group with his daughter Allison Barnes Salter, son-in-law John Salter, and long-time law partner Charles Tanksley. The Barnes Law Group continues Barnes' private law practice which began in 1975 when he formed his first law firm.^[5]

Georgia Supreme Court Rulings As Attorney[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2010)

The Georgia Supreme Court on June 12, 2007 unanimously dismissed a legal challenge to the state's voter ID law. Former Gov. Roy Barnes, argued before the court that the voter ID law was unconstitutional because Ms. Lake the plaintiff and others did not have driver's licenses and were therefore excluded in a discriminatory manner.

The state's highest court said the only plaintiff in the case, Rosalind Lake, a first-time voter after moving to Georgia, had photo identification that would have qualified her to vote in July of last year, so she did not have legal standing to file suit.

"Because Lake possesses a photo ID acceptable for in-person voting under the 2006 Act, once again, she lacks standing to challenge the Act as an unconstitutional restriction on her right to vote," Justice Harold Melton wrote in the five-page opinion.

Legislators passed the law in 2005. Previously, Georgians could show one of 17 forms of ID, including those without photos, such as utility bills, to check in at the polls. Supporters said it would increase voter confidence through a better verification process. Legislators revised the law and made it easier for people to get free photo cards for voting, but the rules were repeatedly barred from implementation until the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law in early 2008.

Aspen Institute Commission on No Child Left Behind[link]

On February 14, 2006, the Aspen Institute announced the forming of the Commission on No Child Left Behind. Barnes, along with former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, was named co-chair of the commission.^[13]

According to its mission, the commission "is a bipartisan effort to identify and build support for improvements in federal education policy to spur academic achievement and close persistent achievement gaps."^[14]

2010 gubernatorial election[link]

Barnes announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Georgia in the 2010 election on June 3, 2009 in his hometown of Marietta, Georgia.^[1]

Barnes’ campaign, Roy 2010, emphasized growing jobs, securing water sources, improving education, and expanding transportation options.^[15] Barnes won the 2010 Democratic Primary on July 20, 2010, so faced off against Republican Nathan Deal and Libertarian John Monds.^[16]

On November 2, 2010, Barnes conceded to Deal as the Republican rode a wave of GOP backing in the 2010 midterm elections.^[17]

Electoral history[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Roy Barnes for Governor official campaign site
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Barnes Law Group
• Roy Barnes at the New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Lawmakers Flashbacks at Georgia Public Broadcasting
• Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Library
• Commission on No Child Left Behind at the Aspen Institute

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