Most of our Just Sayin’ Georgian Bay readers will already recognize the name Peter Iden. Peter became one of our regular columnists in late May last year, shortly after we launched.
Born in Germany, Peter says he used to dream, as a child, of being a cowboy, riding horses, and singing western songs. “Heading west” turned out to be a move to Canada when he was 17.
Peter’s early years of watching birds and nature in the forests around his home, where he began photographing wildlife at the age of 8, inspired a life-long naturalist. He was the Southern Ontario Field Trip Guide for Bird and Botany Outings of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists from 1954 to 1994, as well as the assigned Editor and Publisher of the “Ontario Field Biologist” for the Toronto Field Naturalists’ Club during the same time.
In addition, he was Professional Naturalist for Toronto Parks Department and Metro Toronto Conservation Authority from 1955 to 1975.
A proficient windsurfer and skier Peter moved from Brampton to Wasaga Beach in 1968 to take advantage of the great opportunities around Georgian Bay.
As a JSGB columnist he has contributed features about the winds of Georgian Bay, the stories behind sand, old growth forests, dunes, and ice shelves. Peter has been a member of the Piping Plover Guardians for the Wasaga Beach Provincial Park and the Friends of Nancy Island since 2019 and has educated us about the Piping Plovers.
Peter has written about nearby locales such as the Nottawasaga Island Lighthouse and the Edenvale Aerodrome. And he has taken us far away with stories about the northern part of the Bay including the Bruce Peninsula, Manitoulin Island, and Killarney Provincial Park. Together, taking other publications into account, Peter has authored over 200 articles and is fluent in German as well as English.
Today we also welcome Peter, who is a member of the Georgian Bay Photography Club, to our group of Featured Photographers. We look forward to sharing samples of his Georgian Bay area photography with our readers.
You will find a list of Peter’s JSGB published articles here
