Carr, Archie

Carr, (Archibald Fairly, Jr.) Archie (1909–87) herpetologist; born in Mobile, Ala. He spent his career at the University of Florida: Gainsville (1933–87), with concurrent affiliations at the Escuela Panamericana Honduras (1945–49) and the American Museum of Natural History (1951–87). He made major contributions to the ecology of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles of Florida. His classic conservationist book, The Windward Road (1956), which won the O. Henry Award for best nonfiction short story that year, became the beginning of his worldwide campaign to protect sea turtles from human predators, ocean pollution, and extinction. This book inspired the creation of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (1959), where he served from 1961 to 1987.