Dr. Harry Thiers (1919 — 2000)

Word has it that he spent the day mushrooming with his family, and then died peacefully in his sleep.

Much of the following biographical information was taken from a tribute to Dr. Thiers written by Dennis Desjardin for the 1998 NAMA Foray. Dr. Thiers was born in 1919 in Fort McKavett, Texas. After serving in the Navy during WWII, he received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1956, giving his dissertation on the Agaricales of the pine belt in eastern Texas. He taught at Texas A&M for 12 years before moving to California where he taught at San Francisco State University for 30 years, creating an herbarium that includes over 100,000 specimens and has become a National Resource Collection. It is the largest and most important collection west of the Mississippi.

Dr. Thiers published 8 books, 50 papers in leading scientific journals, and numerous articles for lay journals. He was recognized worldwide as the leading authority on boletes and an innovator in the research on secotioid fungi. 14 different taxa are named in his honor, including the genus Thiersia. Between the years of 1974 - 1983, Dr. Thiers served in many official roles in the Mycological Society of America, including Councilor, Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President, President Elect, and President.

He was given numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the W. W. Weston Award for Teaching Excellence by the Mycological Society of America, the Outstanding Teacher Award by San Francisco State University, and a Life Membership in the Mycological Society of America. In addition, the Mycological Society of San Francisco established the H.D. Thiers Scholarship, and the Mycological Society of America created the Thiers Travel Award, and awarded him their highest honor, the Distinguished Mycologist Award. Finally, he was awarded the California Academy of Sciences Fellows Medal, the highest award given by this prestigious organization, and the first time it was ever given to a mycologist.

With as much as Harry meant to the world of mushrooming, and with as much as he will be missed, I still find it comforting to remember one thing: The very mushrooms that Harry loved so much are nothing more than agents of death and decay. Perhaps Dr. Thiers' passing can serve to remind us that death is a necessary part of life, and this in turn can help us to better enjoy our own brief passage through this world.

That being said, I hope you all had an enjoyable summer. Perhaps you found time to head up to the Sierras to hunt Boletes in recent weeks. We certainly hope the upcoming Lake Tahoe area forays are fruitful; in any case we'll have a good time, and maybe raise a cup or two to the memory of Harry Thiers.