John Goodman was first and foremost a naturalist. He was born in Fairfield, Iowa, on 8 April 8 1920 and became fascinated with the natural world at an early age. He maintained a deep love of nature until his death in Mentone, California, on 8 January 8 2012. John graduated from Parsons College in 1942 and joined the Army as a conscientious objector at the outset of World War II. He initially served as a technical sergeant at Tulane University's 24th General Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. John subsequently received a field commission to second lieutenant in the Sanitary Corps and ran laboratories in North Africa and Italy. During that period, he saw every medically important parasite in that part of the world.
When the war ended, John pursued his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan under the direction of Dr. George LaRue. Other members of the LaRue lab at...