2. • Born on February 20, 1902
• Born San Francisco, California
• A photographer and
environmentalist
• He used the Kodak No. 1 Box
Brownie his parents had given
him.
• Married Virginia Best in 1928
had had two children
• Adams died on April
22, 1984, at the age of 82 from
a heart attack.
3. • When he was 5, the family
fortune collapsed in the
financial panic of 1907
Naturally shy, coupled with
the dramatically
"earthquake" nose, caused
Adams to have problems
fitting in at school. He was
not successful in the various
schools to which his parents
sent him. Ultimately, he
managed to earn what he
termed a "legitimizing
diploma" from the Mrs. Kate
M. Wilkins Private School —
perhaps equivalent to
having completed the
eighth grade.
4. He spent substantial time there
every year from 1916 until his
death. From his first visit, Adams
was transfixed and transformed.
He hiked, climbed, and
explored, gaining self-esteem and
self-confidence. In 1919 he joined
the Sierra Club and spent the first
of four summers in Yosemite
Valley, as "keeper" of the club's
LeConte Memorial Lodge.
