George Petty has roots a century old and four generations deep in the Jersey Highlands. He learned about Highlands birds and wildflowers from his grandmother, and his children grew up roaming Highlands ridges and hollows. In his working life he has been an aviation mechanic, a flight engineer, a union president, a newspaper reporter, a college teacher, and a poet. Now a Professor Emeritus of English at Montclair State University, he has served as a trail maintainer and as Publications Committee Chair for the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference. He is an Associate Naturalist at the Weis Ecology Center of the New Jersey Audubon Society, leading spring and fall wildflower hikes. Although his work has taken him all over the world, he has always returned to the Jersey Highlands, where he makes his home today.
