My Golden Guide Collection

Starting around the mid-60s, before I was even a teenager, I started collecting Golden Guide nature books. My collection has been almost complete for quite some time. By "complete", I'm not claiming that I have every Golden Guide book, just the ones with the subjects that I am interested in.

One very special book is the "Orchids" title. Indiana has 42 species of native orchids; Hawaii has only three. Anyway, for decades, I had the hardest time finding it. I even wrote the publisher, Western Publishing, long before email was even a thing, inquiring about acquiring this book. They wrote back and said that it was out of print, and that they did not intend to publish it again. But then, once upon a time (in the 2000s), Rita and I were in the gift store at Deep River County Park (southeast of Hobart, in Lake county). In their book section, there it was! Only one copy. 1970 edition... 30+ years old. And for sale for its cover price ($2.75)! Of course, I bought it. My collection was then complete.