The Loss of a Legend: A Tribute to Gary Lincoff

Gary Lincoff, legendary mushroom expert, naturalist, writer, teacher, and radiant spirit, passed away on Friday morning. He will be deeply missed. I never had the chance to meet Gary, but his work left a lasting impression on me and instilled an enduring sense of wonder for the mycological world. When I was all of ten, his Audubon guide caught my eye in a bookstore display, and I begged my mom to buy it for me. She reluctantly obliged, and that became the bible that I took on countless hunts and used to identify my first hen of the woods as a child.

Lincoff’s later work The Complete Mushroom Hunter is even more accessible and full of colorful, candid stories. But my wrinkled, field-tested Audubon guide will forever be the book that sparked my passion and awakened me to the vast, enigmatic world of wild mushrooms. Thank you, Gary, for your prodigious contributions to the wild world of mushroom hunting, and for sharing your knowledge so graciously with the next generation. It is work like yours, finding the pulse and abundance of the wild even in the heart of New York City, that breaks down boundaries and brings us closer to nature.