Dane Coolidge

Dane Coolidge (March 24, 1873 - August 8, 1940) was an American author, naturalist, and photographer. He wrote fiction, non-fiction, and articles featuring the American West. He wrote short stories for magazines and made illustrations.[1] His book Rimrock Jones was adapted into the film Rimrock Jones. The Smithsonian Museum has three of his photographs in its collection.[2] He wrote several dozen novels and many tens of short stories.[3]

Coolidge was born in Natick, Massachusetts, the son of Francis Coolidge and Sophia (née Whittemore) Coolidge. His father had a farm in Riverside, California.[3] He grew up in Riverside and went to Stanford University and did postgraduate work at Harvard University.[2]

Coolidge collected animal specimens for the British Museum, Stanford University, the U.S. National Zoological Park,[2] New York Zoological Park, and the United States Natural History Museum.[3] He was a charting member of the American Society of Mammalogists.[4]

He was married to sociologist Mary Roberts Coolidge on July 30, 1906, in Berkeley.[3] They wrote The Navajo Indians in 1930. They also studied and photographed the Seri people in the 1930s and wrote the book The Last of the Seris.[2] Coolidge died in his Berkeley home on August 8, 1940.[4]