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Lady with a Spear
Lady with a Spear, paperback
200 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1954
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 10, 2022
Published in 1953, this is primarily an autobiography by Eugenie Clark, American ichthyologist (fish scientist if you were wondering), covering her early years and travels as a researcher. I have read a few non-fiction books on fish, and for some reason find them quite compelling, so this had some potential for me.
The book briefly covers off some of her early life, and her ever present interest in fish, but it is after University when she is given a position as a research assistant at the Scripps Institute at La Jolla (California), that the story gets interesting. After being initially awarded a position on an research expedition to the Philippines, and then left in limbo (young single woman with all those men) under an excuse about a visa Clark got to spend some time in Hawaii (where she was stranded awaiting the visa). She was them invited to become a research assistant at the American Museum of Natural History, in her field, to assist in some specific research projects. Here Clark explains her research and the methods she uses to prove the hypothesis. She writes well for those with little knowledge in this field, making it simple and clear what she is doing and achieving.
And then she explains some of her research she travelled for. She spent time in Bimimi (the Bahamas) researching filefish, and into the eyesight and connective memory of fish, and then upon returning to the States, hears of a research programme proposed for Micronesia. Clark submitted a proposal and was one of a few chosen, and despite having just been awarded a fellowship (which she managed to defer for a year) was off within two weeks.
A brief stop in Hawaii started her journey to Micronesia, with stops of a few days at Johnson Island (US Minor Outlying Islands), then Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall islands, followed by Guam, then Saipan in the Mariana Islands and finally to Koror in the Palau Islands of Micronesia.
In each place she stops for days longer, spending time with the local fishermen, collecting samples for cataloguing and sending back to the museums and research institutes in the states. Primarily this was done by taking by-product catch from the fishermen's fish traps, or adding rotenone, a derris based plant product which stuns or kills the fish in the trapped water. Once the tide comes in the water is diluted and the effect removed (except for the dead fish i guess - but Clark was taking them all with her as samples).
And so to her time in Micronesia. Here she spent time with an amazing spear fisherman, and where really developed her spear fishing skills, spearing hundreds of specimens for cataloguing and display back in the States. She spent a lot of her time concentrating on Plectognaths (puffer fish, porcupine fish, tridon, trigger fish, box fish and file fish) on which her research was based, and also on poisonous fish (either spikes which poison when touched, or fish poisonous to eat) which was usually based on the local advice to not eat. The poisonous fish were all sent to a research facility in the States for analysis.
In Micronesia, Clark visited many of the other islands, spending time in fairly remote places with basic facilities. It was testament to her fortitude to carry out her work and do more than live, but really thrive in these conditions. Clark shares many stories and explains details about her methods, the fish she encounters, and the fishermen and officials who assist her.
From Micronesia, Clark takes us to Eqypt, where she spends a year in the Red Sea, doing comparative research to the Micronesian work - equally as interesting, and well told.
A well presented, well written and interesting book, easy to read, but with plenty of take away knowledge.
Clark is impressive in her pioneering of women in science, and after publication of this book she goes on to have a much heavier interesting sharks, and research into them, for which she was well known up to her death in 2015.
5 stars.
The book briefly covers off some of her early life, and her ever present interest in fish, but it is after University when she is given a position as a research assistant at the Scripps Institute at La Jolla (California), that the story gets interesting. After being initially awarded a position on an research expedition to the Philippines, and then left in limbo (young single woman with all those men) under an excuse about a visa Clark got to spend some time in Hawaii (where she was stranded awaiting the visa). She was them invited to become a research assistant at the American Museum of Natural History, in her field, to assist in some specific research projects. Here Clark explains her research and the methods she uses to prove the hypothesis. She writes well for those with little knowledge in this field, making it simple and clear what she is doing and achieving.
And then she explains some of her research she travelled for. She spent time in Bimimi (the Bahamas) researching filefish, and into the eyesight and connective memory of fish, and then upon returning to the States, hears of a research programme proposed for Micronesia. Clark submitted a proposal and was one of a few chosen, and despite having just been awarded a fellowship (which she managed to defer for a year) was off within two weeks.
A brief stop in Hawaii started her journey to Micronesia, with stops of a few days at Johnson Island (US Minor Outlying Islands), then Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall islands, followed by Guam, then Saipan in the Mariana Islands and finally to Koror in the Palau Islands of Micronesia.
In each place she stops for days longer, spending time with the local fishermen, collecting samples for cataloguing and sending back to the museums and research institutes in the states. Primarily this was done by taking by-product catch from the fishermen's fish traps, or adding rotenone, a derris based plant product which stuns or kills the fish in the trapped water. Once the tide comes in the water is diluted and the effect removed (except for the dead fish i guess - but Clark was taking them all with her as samples).
And so to her time in Micronesia. Here she spent time with an amazing spear fisherman, and where really developed her spear fishing skills, spearing hundreds of specimens for cataloguing and display back in the States. She spent a lot of her time concentrating on Plectognaths (puffer fish, porcupine fish, tridon, trigger fish, box fish and file fish) on which her research was based, and also on poisonous fish (either spikes which poison when touched, or fish poisonous to eat) which was usually based on the local advice to not eat. The poisonous fish were all sent to a research facility in the States for analysis.
In Micronesia, Clark visited many of the other islands, spending time in fairly remote places with basic facilities. It was testament to her fortitude to carry out her work and do more than live, but really thrive in these conditions. Clark shares many stories and explains details about her methods, the fish she encounters, and the fishermen and officials who assist her.
From Micronesia, Clark takes us to Eqypt, where she spends a year in the Red Sea, doing comparative research to the Micronesian work - equally as interesting, and well told.
A well presented, well written and interesting book, easy to read, but with plenty of take away knowledge.
Clark is impressive in her pioneering of women in science, and after publication of this book she goes on to have a much heavier interesting sharks, and research into them, for which she was well known up to her death in 2015.
5 stars.
February 17, 2024
This book has been on my to read list since high school and I'm so glad I got around to reading it. Eugenie Clark was one of the main reasons I wanted to become a marine scientist and reading her story in her words was a treat.
February 20, 2025
A delightful book written by a pioneering ichthyologist -- 5 star book if you're a scuba diver. Dr. Clark dives for fish specimens in post-WWII Guam, Palau and The Red Sea. She describes the people she meets and her fish finds in a very accessible way.
October 11, 2011
A very interesting account of field work in remote areas by a pioneering woman scientist. I found her reports of collecting specimens distressing because of the large numbers of animals killed, but this was standard practice at the time. Clark was a biologist specializing in fish, who conducted research in the Mariana Islands and on the Red Sea. Her entertaining account of the people and animals she encountered is both interesting and informative. There is a section of black & white photos from her travels. A good book to read in the winter.
March 12, 2018
A really nice book, and fascinating for its time-capsule properties (it was written in the early 50s). I'm charmed by her memories of "goggling" in the sea, wearing her "frog feet."(Reminds me of Mr. Burns saying "Smithers! Fetch me my bi-oculars!") I was particularly interested in the Red Sea portion of the book, which takes up about 40 pages at the end. I learned stuff I didn't know about the Sea and the coastal area, and it was fun to see her predict that Ghardaqa (now known in English--but not in Arabic--as Hurghada) would revert to a small fishing village once the offshore oil stores were depleted. She also tells stories, with palpable enthusiasm, of poisoning tide pools to collect samples, of eating dugong meat, etc., which were sort of horrifying to me given the current state of our ocean wildlife, but apparently she became a prominent voice in support of conservation later on, so.
February 23, 2021
This is a book to be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in ichthyology. Eugenie Clark begins with her childhood interest in fish, her education and finally her wonderful and, for women at the time, rare opportunities to travel to the Palau Islands, Hawaii and Egypt to study fish in the oceans and Red Sea.
She not only includes her experiences in the water, but also with the locals in each location. I think she must have been an extremely brave and brilliant individual to dive and spear fish with local fishermen from the Palau Islands and in Egypt. She was apparently fearless around all sea life no matter how dangerous.
I wonder if this book was written with high school and college students in mind to encourage them to pursue marine biology. If I was younger I certainly would have considered it.
She not only includes her experiences in the water, but also with the locals in each location. I think she must have been an extremely brave and brilliant individual to dive and spear fish with local fishermen from the Palau Islands and in Egypt. She was apparently fearless around all sea life no matter how dangerous.
I wonder if this book was written with high school and college students in mind to encourage them to pursue marine biology. If I was younger I certainly would have considered it.
January 26, 2013
Lady With A Spear was a pleasure to read. It's a personal memoir of Eugenie Clarck's early studies in icthyology (fish) from a child watching at the aquarium through to University and PhD studies and her first trips to Micronesia and the Red Sea. It provides a look into the field science that was going on at the time (1949-1950) and the rather large amount of fish that got speared along the way...
The science and the stories go together very well and there were several times when I'd have to share something I had just learned in the book with those who happened to be around me. She and her helpers encounter all sorts of fish along the way and the book also comes with photographs and illustrations by the author.
The science and the stories go together very well and there were several times when I'd have to share something I had just learned in the book with those who happened to be around me. She and her helpers encounter all sorts of fish along the way and the book also comes with photographs and illustrations by the author.
October 30, 2019
The writing in this book starts off rocky and isn't the best, but Eugenie Clark's stories are great, and made even better by the fact that she was breaking gender and age barriers with her accomplishments. I wish that she shared a bit more of her personal story with readers - the book is a documenting of events in her life and significant findings, but I would like to have known more about how she felt. That would have made her stories more personal.
Read
January 9, 2023JP is on holiday with his Grandmother and her new husband lars when a women is murdered. Retired or not JP finds himself neck deep in the investigation. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in this one and in typical Jance fashion we quickly end up with another body.
This one had me guessing all the way thorugh and at the two big reveals I could have kicked myself.
Needless to say this is another great instalment in the JP Beaumont series
This one had me guessing all the way thorugh and at the two big reveals I could have kicked myself.
Needless to say this is another great instalment in the JP Beaumont series
March 30, 2020
Written with childlike joy and energy, "The Shark Lady's" autobiography reveals she wasn't always focused on sharks - most of it recounts her experiences diving off of distant islands, researching triggerfish and other tropical species and interacting with indigenous peoples everywhere she went. A fun and engaging read.
Want to read
September 22, 2020Allegedly a relative.
July 24, 2021
A lovely travelogue to complement our many readings of Shark Lady.
January 5, 2017
Two-thirds ichthyology and one-third anthropology. I knew about Dr. Clark through her work with sharks so most of this book, taking place in the late 30s through early 50s and not about sharks at all, was completely unknown to me.
While the work itself is fascinating - if not a bit horrifying by modern data collection standards - the additional observations she makes on the people she meets, particularly the fisherman and women in the Palau islands, made for a more fascinating read than anticipated. She would also touch on the difficulties she faced as a Japanese-descent American during this turbulent time, mainly in the form of being forced to resign from a government job early in her career. Because Dr. Clark included these observations about her life and those in the South Pacific she created a uniquely valuable time capsule that should be shared.
Additionally, her fear of barracuda validates my fear. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is already in love with the sea.
While the work itself is fascinating - if not a bit horrifying by modern data collection standards - the additional observations she makes on the people she meets, particularly the fisherman and women in the Palau islands, made for a more fascinating read than anticipated. She would also touch on the difficulties she faced as a Japanese-descent American during this turbulent time, mainly in the form of being forced to resign from a government job early in her career. Because Dr. Clark included these observations about her life and those in the South Pacific she created a uniquely valuable time capsule that should be shared.
Additionally, her fear of barracuda validates my fear. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is already in love with the sea.
November 21, 2025
4.5 stars
I believe I originally read this book
when I was about 20.
I think it is very well written.
I think it is one the most different,
interesting, and best memoirs I
have ever read.
I believe I originally read this book
when I was about 20.
I think it is very well written.
I think it is one the most different,
interesting, and best memoirs I
have ever read.
September 13, 2009
And y'all think I'm a fish nerd...
May 5, 2016
Clark lived an amazing life she truly was inspirational! However I'm very glad science has changed for the better.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews