A Tribute to Jack Skead

A tribute to Jack Skead

By Professor Adrian Craig, Department of Zoology and Entomology, RhodesUniversity

CJ Skead, “Jack” to many, “Skeado” to me, died peacefully on 28 May, just a month after his 94th birthday.

Without question, he was one of South Africa’s greatest naturalists, always curious, recording and posing questions, writing and searching. Though allwho knew himwill miss his conversation and letters, he has left an extraordinarily valuable written record which will be consulted by people for decades to come, especially anyone involved in the Eastern Cape.

Born in Prot Elizabeth, schooled at Grey High in Port Elizabeth and St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown, Skeado trained asa dairy farmer and farmed at “Gameston” on the Highlands Road near Grahamstown for 17 years. Here he began his bird observations, which were published inOstrich and other ornithological journals. In 1949he moved to King William’s Town as director of the Kaffrarian (now Amathole) Museum. Here he was no longer a solitary observer in the field, but in a position to influence and stimulate many others. From 1961 – 66 he served as a research officer for the Percy FitzPatrick Institute, though he remained based in the Eastern Cape. He then returned to the museum as a biologist until his retirement in 1972, when the family moved to Grahamstown and he became one of the mentors of the fledgling Diaz Cross Bird Club.

Retirement was perhaps his busiest time, as the files of information on a myriad of topics expanded to fill cupboards, and the portable typewriter clattered away. His later letters were characterised by the worn keys and indistinct print of this overworked machine; he changed it, but relied on his daughter Peggy to retype his documents on a word processor. She too worked hard in her retirement. We extend our sincere sympathy to Peggy, Walter, David’s widow Betty and their families.

Apart from numerous scientific papers and popular articles, Skeado’s working years had produced two books: Sunbirds of South Africa, and Canaries, seedeaters and buntings. Both are valued today, as much for their content as their rarity as Africana. His retirement produced a steady stream of weighty tomes: the zoo-historical gazetteer, two volumes on historical mammal distribution in the Cape Province, an account of the offshore islands of South Africa, a gazetteer of place names in the Algoa region, a history of the Skead family, a monograph on stone walls in the Eastern Cape, a compilation of bird sightings by early travellers, and two volumes of life-history notes on Eastern Cape birds. Finally there were six slim books in which his sense of humour was allowed full play, to relate anecdotes of his birding days for his family and others. Yet even these are no mere comic pieces, but also full of information, searching questions, and the wisdom of someone who spent many hours in patient observation.

Though quiet and self-deprecatory in manner, Skeado was no recluse. He retained a wide circle of contacts and received many visitors. Often a letter with more information and suggestions about other sources would follow promptly after a conversation or phone call. By the time I knew him, he no longer joined club outings as he had in earlier days, but his interest in birds never slackened. Earlier this year he gave me a file of typed observations on the birds of his retirement village; all will appear in Diaz Diary, suitably re-typed. As neighbours we became friends, and for 26 years I have been privileged to learn from Skeado about the natural history and history of this region. I was sorry when he moved to Port Elizabeth, but his letters were a new pleasure, laced with his wry sense of humour. His research of place names involved close study of maps, and he wrote that he had found an airfield with no access roads marked. “What happens there?” he mused “Personal levitation?”

Few have been more worthy of formal academic recognition, and Skeado received honorary doctorates from RhodesUniversity (1982) and the University of Port Elizabeth (2004). He was awarded the Gill Memorial Medal by the Southern African Ornithological Society, and the Gold Medal of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa. Other societies and the museums association also honoured him. Whenever I visited Skeado I left humbled, and yet stimulated. The questions he asked will keep us busy for several lifetimes, but he did so much to point the way and ease the path for the generations to follow.