Remembering Carl Sharsmith (1903 - 1994)
Story behind the song
Piano, Cello and Violin played with synth guitar and Fishman TriplePlay.
The memory of a morning walk, long ago, with Yosemite park ranger Carl Sharsmith, and lunch under the trees of Tuolumne Meadows.
Carl W. Sharsmith (March 14, 1903 October 14, 1994)
Carl was an American naturalist and Yosemite park ranger, notable for his knowledge and interpretation of the natural history of the Sierra Nevada.
He taught botany at various universities, and was the first botanist to comprehensively document the alpine flora of the high Sierra Nevada, during this period he explored nearly every "nook and cranny" of Yosemite's High Sierra.
When asked by a park visitor what he would do if he only had 1 day to see Yosemite.
"Madam," he replied, "I'd sit by the Merced River and cry."
Besides interpreting for visitors, Sharsmith did basic research on the alpine meadows of the High Sierra, gathering thousands of herbarium samples and publishing several research papers.
His interests included botany, zoology, geology, classical music, Shakespeare, and singing opera.
Carl retired from the National Park Service in 1993 at the age of 90, as the oldest active NPS park ranger in history, a year later, he died at his home in San Jose, California.