Michael J. Ryan is the head of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He writes…
Thanks for your tribute to Ray Harryhausen. I should point out that it was not only writers and artists who were inspired by Ray, but many scientists, especially paleontologists (at least my generation), myself included. I had the pleasure of hosting Ray, Diana, and Vanessa for a week in Alberta back in 1995. I took Ray on his first (and only dinosaur dig) and I can't say that he enjoyed it much — too much sun and too much kneeling on the hard ground. One of these days I'll post the photos of that dig.
Yeah…shoulda mentioned that. Ray Bradbury, who was a close friend of Harryhausen, always noted that when his chum did dinosaurs, they weren't just for purposes of entertainment. They were so well-researched and authentic that they were also a science lesson.