16 TH ESA USD UU BiOUN 3B .UlL bok ae 
From the Editor’s Desk 
By Paul H. Lobtk 
Hail and Farewell — In a space of barely six months, we have lost five 
valued workers for the cause of bird protection and conservation — three 
from the local scene (all former I.A.S. Directors) — and two from the 
national scene. Strangely, all died before reaching the fullness of their 
years, and we are the poorer because so much of their work has been left 
undone. 
In December, 1963, Avron Simon died of the heart condition that had 
hampered him for years but had not restrained his enthusiasm. Mr. Simon, 
a former Director, will be remembered best as the man who led the fight 
to preserve the Lincoln Park Bird Sanctuary on Chicago’s Lake Front 
when it was threatened by a program of “modernizing” the park by creat- 
ing more tennis courts. 
Betty Mannette Memorial Fund — In February, former Director Betty 
Mannette succumbed to the malignancy that has claimed so many of our 
friends in recent years. She was long a member of the Board, and often 
served on the committee for the Annual Meeting among other duties. Her 
husband, Russell Mannette, wrote the Board that he wished to establish 
a Memorial Fund by matching sums given in her memory, the total to be 
given to a worthy conservation project. The Board voted to donate a large 
sum to the Prairie Chicken Foundation of Illinois and Mr. Mannette 
matched the amount. With other contributions that have been received, 
it is hoped that an area in the Prairie Chicken Reserve will be dedicated 
to her memory. 
We were deeply moved by the following letter from Mrs. Laurence H. 
Nobles of 3300 Hayes Street, Evanston, Illinois, who wrote to us late in 
May as follows: 
“Miss Helen E. McMillen passed away in May 1964, at the age of 48. 
Interested in the out-of-doors all her life, active in nature and conservation 
activities, she was a member of the Evanston Bird Club and its President 
from 1957 to 1959. She served as Director, and was also a Life Member of 
the Illinois Audubon Society. I am enclosing a manuscript of hers which 
might be suitable for publication in the AUDUBON BULLETIN. It is a 
survey of past Evanston Bird Club Records, with recommendations for 
better coverage.” 
As a Director and Recording Secretary, Helen McMillen served the 
Society well for three years. You will find her article elsewhere in this 
issue. It is the first posthumous article we have published in many years. 
Rachel Carson Memorial Fund for Research — ‘The world-renowned 
author of two best sellers, SILENT SPRING and THE SEA AROUND US, 
died of cancer while still in her fifties. The National Audubon Society has 
agreed to administer a fund for research in memory of Rachel Carson. 
An advisory commission has been set up to direct the National Society 
in handling the fund. and the names on the committee are among the 
most distinguished in the field of American ornithology — Dr. Clarence 
Cottam of the Welder Wildlife Foundation; Dr. Robert C. Murphy of the 
American Museum of Natural History; Dr. Roger Tory Peterson; Dr. Paul 
B. Sears, outstanding ecologist; Edwin Way Teale, naturalist-writer; and 
others, in cooperation with President Carl Buchheister. Contributions to 
the Rachel Carson Memorial Fund may be sent to the National Audubon 
Society, 1130 Fifth Avenue, New York 28, New York. 
