Edwin Way Teale (June 2, 1899 - October 18, 1980) was an American naturalist, photographer and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. Teale’s works served as primary source material documenting environmental conditions across North America from 1930-1980. He is perhaps best known for his series The American Seasons, four books documenting over 75,000 miles (121,000 km) of automobile travel across North America following the changing seasons.
Born Edwin Alfred Teale in Joliet, Illinois, his interest in the natural world was fostered by childhood summers spent at his grandparents’ "Lone Oak" farm in Indiana’s dune country. These experiences are recalled in his book Dune Boy (1943). At the age of nine, Teale declared himself a naturalist and at 12 changed his name to Edwin Way Teale.
Teale served as president of the New York Entomological Society from 1944-1949 and the Brooklyn Entomological Society (later incorporated into the New York Entomological Society) from 1949-1953.
He died in 1980 at the age of 81.