Frank Lang remembered
Memorial planned Saturday for professor, botanist and author
By John Darling
for the Mail Tribune
Frank Lang, a locally renowned biologist, author, radio personality and Southern Oregon University professor for more than 30 years, will be honored at a memorial at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 27, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Ashland.
It will be followed by a wake-party at 6 p.m. at Northwest Pizza & Pasta “with beer and puns on tap,” said his daughter Amy Lang, making note of the professor’s pun-laced lectures.
“My sweet daddy Frank Lang died peacefully of natural causes on June 26,” she posted on Facebook. “He loved plants, animals, Monty Python, puns, scotch, adventure, the natural world, his dogs, getting people riled up, teaching, learning, exploring, online quizzes, the comics and most importantly, my mom, Suzanne, brother Tom … and me.”
Lang was widely known in the region for his weekly “Nature Notes” pieces on Jefferson Public Radio and for his guided botany expeditions, lasting several days in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
His broadcasts formed his books, “The Nature Notes Sampler,” in two volumes.
Lang was born in 1937 in Olympia, Washington, where he wandered the wilds and the shores of Puget Sound in childhood, fueling his love of biology and winning his Boy Scout Merit Badge under noted naturalist-author Margaret McKenny, according to his printed obituary.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in botany from Oregon State University, a master’s degree at University of Washington, and a Ph.D. from University of British Columbia.
After retirement, Lang worked with the Ashland Resource Area of the Bureau
of Land Management on an intensive study of the Cascade- Siskiyou National Monument.
Lang was active in the Native Plant Society of Oregon and the Crater Lake Natural History Association. Professionally, he explored Argentina and Tasmania and worked at Harvard’s Gray Herbarium. He traveled to England and Scotland to research the 19th century Scottish botanist David Douglas, for whom the Douglas fir tree is named.
In an Ashland Tidings thread about Lang’s passing, Jodi French said, “What a gentle, clever, funny and lovely man.”
Susan Powell added, “He was a wonderful contributor to what makes Ashland special.”
Jonnie Dale Lieberman, who took a class in Nature Drawing and Biology from Lang, commented, “What a joy to draw and be with this lover of life.”
Rosalind Schrodt noted, “Frank was my favorite professor when I was at SOU. His energy and wit and understanding of art and nature had a tremendous effect on me, blessing us with his grace. RIP dear teacher.”
Noted Ashland nature activist and authority Diane Newell Meyer, who studied under Lang for her environmental degree in 1971-72, noted, “I had a work-study job with him in the herbarium. … He was funny and quick-witted. We kept in touch through the Native Plant Society. His sense of humor was always there!”
Longtime Mail Tribune reporter and columnist Paul Fattig said, “He was such a wonderful human being, one of those whose wit and wisdom will be sorely missed.”
Lisa Spencer said, “I loved his presence here in our valley … such a loss.”
Native Ashlander Rebecca Cintron Osvold said, “Another lovely soul who remains with us in spirit.”
Publisher Steven School noted, “Remembering the lucky times I got to spend with Frank, a truly wonderful man who gave so much to the community.”
Lang was 82.
Frank Lang’s stories are indexed here.
Other pages in this section
*** previous title *** --- *** next title ***
