In Memory of Loren ‘Bub’ Blake, Sept. 17, 1944-Oct. 5, 2004

Loren Blake, known to all of his friends as \u27Bub,\u27 entered many of our lives on a fall evening in the late 1980s. The occasion was the traditional shared nature slide session at the Nebraska Ornithologists\u27 Union Fall Field Days. Rumors circulated about a Sandhills rancher interested in birds and photography who was going to show up with a few slides he had taken “around the ranch.” And show up he did, with a carousel of his best! The room was soon buzzing with Oohs, Aahs, and Wows as Bub dazzled us with his crisp, well-composed photos of everything from sparrows to herons. Over the years, the slides continued. His photos began to appear elsewhere, including in NEBRASKAland magazine. After he retired from the ranch, Bub was a regular springtime volunteer at Rowe Sanctuary and Ashfall Fossil Beds. Bub left us much the same way he came. Quietly, without fanfare or advance notice. But his photos and the words of St. Francis that accompanied his presentations remain with us: All things bright and beautiful. All creatures great and small. All things wise and wonderful. The Lord God made them all