BAMS: Memorial for Ryane Snow, PhD

Ryane Snow, the Mushroom Man, 1942-2012

Ryane and I became very close friends in a short while. We only got to know each other three years ago through an introduction by David Arora at SOMA Camp. Then we realized how our lives had paralleled each other for decades. Two or three phone calls a week became not uncommon. We went to Alaska last year together where we both did mushroom stuff of different natures. The folks up there are truly thankful for having the blessing of him being in their lives in many ways. As are everybody else. He was a gentle soul and I miss him horribly.

—Patrick Hamilton

I'm glad I got to spend quality time with Ryane at SOMA Camp in January, 2012. Even though mushrooms were scarce, walking through the woods with him was a great pleasure. That's how I will remember him.

—Andy Weil

Two photos from David Arora:

Fresh sprouts (Yunnan, China, 2010)

Old growths (California, USA, 2011)

I am retired and live in Albion. I met Ryane Snow three years ago on a trail in Jug Handle State Park. It was a few weeks after the fall rains began. My wife and I were out for our regular exercise as well as practicing our mushroom identification skills. My interest (obsession?) in mushrooms began just two years prior and had infected my wife as well. We had just gotten into the covered forest and were admiring some newly emerged mushroom specimens when I spotted a person approaching. I looked again and recognized him from photos I had seen. I said, "Hello! I believe you are Ryane Snow?" With a somewhat surprised response, he said "Well, yes I am." I introduced us and he said he too was "checking out the early mushrooms". Normally, when we encounter other folks in the forest, a brief "hello" or "what a great day!" exchanges are the gist of the encounter and we go our separate ways. But Ryane asked us "would you mind if we walked together?" Of course I was delighted as we continued up the trail and he offered identifications of the species we discovered as well as other mushroom lore. In 30 minutes, I learned more than I had since I began the hobby. He inspired me to learn even more. Foraging trips tend to blend and merge over time, but that encounter will forever be one I remember in vivid detail and with delight.

I saw him a couple of times after that - usually in the forest - and will forever think of him when I forage. If more mushroomers had Ryane's character and style, I'd probably be more involved with mushroom organizations. I will miss seeing him.

—Howard B. Guyer

I had the chance to mushroom hunt with Ryane Snow at one of the Albion forays. He was instantly a man I looked up to and will remember for the rest of my life. His enthusiasm and incredible knowledge of vast topics like Chinese medicines and mushrooms was one of the biggest inspirations and influences in my personal exploration. He will be missed greatly, as he was one of the coolest old dudes I have ever met. My thoughts go out to his family and all who knew him. I hope his legacy will continue to touch hearts and souls as he did for me. I feel blessed to have walked with him and to share his passions. He was truly an amazing person and a treasure of knowledge, character and personality. It saddens me that he will no longer be teaching, he was such a unique and positive individual. I am honored to have known him in this life.

—Michael Tanz

Thanks so much, David (Arora) for this link (below). I will save it and savor it. Ryane was a complex and fun-guy and the end of the video with him walking off into the woods, ahead of us, is perfect. From the little I know of him thru SOMA camp and a few trips to Fort Bragg, Ryane lived his life 100% his way and had one of the best minds I know. He will indeed be missed by so many whose lives he touched and enriched. If there is a mushroom heaven, he's there waiting to show us around!

—Anna Moore

In the photo below, the kid on the right is Sean, co-artist of Larry Stickney's "Mushroom Heaven" mural, and just for the record he is the one who found this matsutake. We actually made quite a haul that day. To protect the big one we packed it into a very large, cloth shopping bag, using smaller matsutake as packing material. Ryane and I each grabbed a handle and made the mile plus trek back to the car kind of stumbling along through the woods until we got to a nice, wide trail where we could walk side by side. Every so often he would look down at that enormous matsutake and start to giggle. It was a great day. I think I saw the picture used in the "largest mushroom of a species" survey a while back.

—Mike McCurdy

I heard the news last night around the campfire at PiPi Campground. Everyone was shocked to hear that such a kind and vibrant soul was gone from our midst. I was even more shocked to hear that he was 70 years old!!! Geez, is it just me, or did he not seem even a bit that old? Old soul, sure...

Ryane had a kind word for everyone, and despite his great scholarship and extensive practical knowledge, he was the epitome of modest. On the other hand, he was nobody's fool; he saw folks exactly as they were, and accepted them at face value, warts and all. Giving, but expecting nothing in return.

He walked between worlds, groups and factions with ease, favoring none and giving to all and always willing to learn as well as teach.

May we honor his memory through emulation of his loving and playful spirit.

I dedicate my (Ryane) Snow Plant photos of this past weekend to Ryane's memory: the brilliant burgeoning of this springtime morel harbinger will now forever be linked with this good man, in my mind.

Farewell Ryane, Blythe Spirit, we'll miss you.

—Debbie Viess

Ryane's spirit was as warm and broad as his beautiful smile. He was a generous and kind individual, and will be missed by all whose lives he touched.

—Irma Brandt, fungi and marine algae enthusiast

The following is a bio that Ryane sent to the folks running the Girdwood Fungus Fair. Used with permission of Kate Mohatt, US Forest Service.

It all began in earnest while I was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in 1970. I was a synthetic organic chemist, having recently earned my doctorate from UC Berkeley. My research interests were centered on the chemistry of natural products, particularly those that exhibited medicinal properties. It was here at Stanford that I teamed up with colleague Ron Parry (now a professor at Rice University) for weekly “botanizing” excursions, where we would collect, identify, and research wild plants that caught our attention. These forays were so enjoyable that we continued our weekly trips through the rainy season, where our focus shifted to fungi, which were much more interesting and mysterious. Thus was born my passion for mushrooms and the natural world in which they abound. Daily walks in the vicinity of my lab resulted in an abundance of edible mushrooms including chanterelles, blewits, and horse mushrooms (Agaricus arvensis). Wow!! This fungal fare was soooo much better than store-boughts. My palate was hooked as well.

I then joined the Mycological Society of San Francisco and soon found myself serving on the Toxicology and Taxonomy Committees. I also wrote articles for the Mycena News, mostly having to do with the chemistry of fungi. At about the same time I became executive director of PharmChem Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the analysis of “street drugs” and drug education. This time period was the height of the “psychedelic revolution” and I had the opportunity to analyze many samples of purported hallucinogenic mushrooms, the majority of which were grocery store varieties laced with LSD. I also analyzed mushrooms collected by serious scientific investigators such as Paul Stamets and Gaston Guzman. I also developed a close friendship with Dr. Andrew Weil at this time, and we shared a number of noteworthy mushroom forays.

Soon people were knocking at my door to have me identify the “strange fungus” growing in their backyard or the mushroom they ate which gave them an upset stomach. Somehow I became known as “The Mushroom Man”. It was then that I decided that people needed to be educated about fungi and I started leading mushroom walks for groups such as the Environmental Center in Palo Alto and the California Native Plant Society.

In 1982 I moved to Mendocino County (mushroom heaven) and taught at an alternative high school (Mendocino Community High School). One of the courses I developed and taught for many years was entitled Natural History of the Mendocino Coast. Needless to say, the Fall semester focused on fungi. Former students still stop me to thank me for teaching them about mushrooms.

I am presently a practitioner of Chinese medicine specializing in Chinese herbs, a number of which are fungi. I teach Qi Gong and surfing. I wildcraft medicinal and edible fungi, plants and seaweeds. I have led numerous mushroom walks and identification workshops and have presented a number of talks about mushrooming and medicinal mushrooms. I am presently a member of the Sonoma County Mycological Association (SOMA) and the Bay Area Mycological Society (BAMS) and I assist David Arora at his Thanksgiving weekend workshops in Albion, CA. Last summer (2010) a small group of mycophiles including myself traveled to Yunnan Province in China and experienced the mushroom adventure of a lifetime under the leadership of David Arora.

Here is a link to a video on the "Visit California" website featuring Ryane in the woods talking about his love for mushrooms... (there is a short ad at the beginning).