Dr. Hugh Carter Whatley lost his battle
from complications of ALS on Thursday, January 10, 2002. His family was
with him at the time of his death, and his wife Jo says his passing was
peaceful and pain-free.
Of all the amazing accomplishments of his long and fruitful life, Carter
was first and foremost a teacher. He taught by example, and he taught by
faith. He taught young minds to be aware, and most importantly, to ask
questions. To not take for granted that “someone” will do something.
To get out and do it oneself and set positive examples in doing so. Carter
was my mentor into the world of hawk watching, introducing Bill and I to
the radical concept that hundreds of thousands of hawks could be viewed
from one site ... and when we discovered that one site was right in our
own backyard, we were hooked!
That lesson certainly came home for me one day in the mid 1990's while
talking to Carter about birding and something he also participated in that
he called “hawk watching.”
Having had a deep and abiding love and
respect for raptors long before I even knew the birds’ proper names,
I’ll never forget my first reaction on hearing about the hawk watch:
“You do what? You’re kidding, right?” ... Well, he wasn’t kidding,
and after our first exposure to hawk watching on the hill at Hazel
Bazemore in 1994, Bill and I were hooked!
Carter didn’t stop there, though ... oh, no! He slowly and steadily
continued to teach. Whether in a classroom or out in the field pursuing
his favorite activities, Carter always made us think and look around at
the world in a new light. In another conversation we had one day about how
to better promote hawk watching, especially the local site tucked away at
little Hazel Bazemore County Park out in the western edge of the campus,
Carter mentioned he had “this little web site” he’d put together for
the Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi. I went over to his office and
saw on his computer a half dozen or so web pages that made up the original
site. I quickly realized the incredible potential at hand, and was just
blown away! Carter just sat back in his chair, with this little enigmatic
smile on his face, and proceeded to yank back on that rod and reel and set
the other hook in me, but good! What I was looking at was the first web
site on the World Wide Web for the Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi,
created by Carter and hosted on the web server at Texas A&M University
- Corpus Christi, where he was an Associate Professor of Political Science
and Public Administration (his last post prior to his death).
Carter served as coordinator of the Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch in the early
to mid-90's. After his introduction to me of the world wide web, Carter
then turned over the coordinator's hat for the Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch
into my very shaky hands. He proved the adage that a watch is as good as
its people, as the amazing volunteers and friends of the hawk watch took
me under their wings as well, and made my first foray into hawk watching
an experience that positively and permanently changed my life. I then
passed the torch of the hawk watch to Joel Simon the next year (the same
year Hawk Watch International took notice of our humble little reports)
... and I went back to work with Carter, learning how to talk to the
internet. The rest, as they say is history.
Today, due to his paving the way and teaching me how to do this “web
thing” ... Corpus Christi birding and hawk watching now have a
world-wide presence on the web. His original work formed the basis upon
which was built the web site you see today. The original AOC site spun off
satellite sites for the Texas Hawk Watches and the Texas Whooping Cranes.
They are now full sites in their own right, and Carter’s original pages
remain part of the Texas Hawk Watches site today (see the 1995 section).
Everyone who encountered Carter's enthusiasm for learning came away all
the richer for the experience. While I'll now miss seeing that twinkle in
his eye when his dry, sharp sense of humor would catch one of us unawares,
I won't miss him too painfully, as he lives on in my heart. On the
contrary, I see him now as hurrying to leave for the next birding trip
with Roger Tory Peterson and Connie Hagar, and all the others who've gone
on ahead to look for those really rare birds from a much higher vantage
point.
As noted in 1998 when Carter was awarded the Kingsville, Texas Birding
Club's highest achievement award, we can find the spirit of Carter Whatley
embodied in the words set down by William Earnest Henley years ago, in his
work entitled ...
Invictus*
Out of the night that covers me,
black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
my head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
looms but the horror of the shade,
and yet the menace of the years
finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how straight the gate,
how charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
* Latin: unconquered
- by William Ernest Henley
Coincidentally, while looking through my archives to find these documents,
in the same folder was this next piece of prose. While having nothing to
do with anything at the time, it's all the more fitting now ... as I feel
the spirit of the verse holds just as true in Carter's case:
Quis separabit?
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush.
Of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there;
I did not die.
Carter will always be with us in spirit on Hawk Hill at Hazel Bazemore.
Thanks for traveling down the road one
more time with me for Carter. Good birding, my friend.
Carter Whatley was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. He is
survived by his loving wife, Jo, who stood beside him in sickness and in
health and brought great strength to his spirit during his final battle
with ALS. He is also survived by a son and a daughter and the friendship
and respect of the thousands of souls he touched throughout a too-short
but fruitful life.
- Patty Waits Beasley
Corpus Christi, TX, 2002 |
