V: Sun and Ice
Retirement.
Jimmy Carter notwithstanding, Larry Gould must have had one of the most active "retirements" on record. Between 1962 and 1979 Gould returned to Antarctica four more times. He continued with a busy schedule of public speaking engagements and maintained significant leadership roles in numerous scientific organizations. And he began a whole new career as Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arizona.

Gould had met Arizona's president Richard Harvill in the late 1950s, when delivering an address in Tucson. At that time Harvill had told him that if he wanted to join the Arizona faculty after retiring from Carleton, "you can have a job as long as I have and you can do anything you want." In the fall of 1962, after departing Carleton, Gould went again to Antarctica in his role as chair of the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Polar Research. Following that, Peg and Larry settled into their new home in Tucson, and Larry returned to the classroom. It was a satisfying new life. Years later, when in his nineties, Gould told a University of Arizona reporter: "When I retired [from Carleton], I thought, well, I'll come down here and teach a couple of years and I'll go to seed and I'll die. Well instead of two years, I taught 18... This place has given me a whole new wonderful career. That's one reason that I've lived on to 90 years. I would have died if I hadn't had something to do. I can't express my debt to the University of Arizona."
Speaking at a Symposium in Rochester, 1964.
Gould continued to contribute actively to many activities dear to his heart, and to be honored for those contributions. He was instrumental in raising money for the expansion of the Mayo Clinic, and was a moving force in the foundation of a Mayo Medical School. He continued until 1972 his chairmanship of the National Research Council's Polar Research Board. From 1963 to 1970 he was president of the International Council of Scientific Union's Special Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR). In 1965 he became president of the largest general body of American scientists, the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Displayed nearby are a sampling of awards and tokens of appreciation given to Gould during the years 1963-1966.

A shift in politics.
From a feature on Gould printed in the Minneapolis Tribune, Jan. 3, 1965: "During the recent election he was a member of Scientists and Engineers for Johnson and Humphrey. This was quite a switch, he admitted, for a lifelong Republican and one sometimes pressed by Minnesota Republicans to run for the Senate against Democrat Humphrey. His reason, he said bluntly, was Arizona's Barry Goldwater and Goldwater's opposition to the administration's civil rights bill, the nuclear test ban and the Antarctic treaty. 'When we went to Tucson,' Gould said, 'we found we had to register by party. I went into one booth and my wife went into another. When we came out, I said to her, "My father would spin in his grave if he knew it, but I'm a Democrat." She said, "I am too."'"
At Carleton's Centennial Science Symposium, 1966.
Gould returned to Carleton on numerous occasions over the years, to deliver addresses, attend dedications, or simply to participate in reunions. The fall Science Symposium during Carleton's centennial year celebrations was a particularly memorable event, and Gould's welcome "home" was a warm one.
At the Centennial Science Symposium, October 1966.
Chatting with his successor, President John W. Nason, at a reception in Gould's honor, fall 1966.
Beside statue of Admiral Byrd at Antarctica's McMurdo Station, during 1969 trip.
In 1969 Gould returned to "the Ice" for the fifth time, as part of an expedition of some 200 American scientists financed by the National Science Foundation. The trip coincided with the 40th anniversary of Admiral Byrd's historic flight over the South Pole, and of Gould's epic dog-sledge journey.
South Pole, November 29, 1969.
Forty years exactly after the date of Byrd's flight, Gould and others (including Byrd's pilot, Bernt Balchen) held a small ceremony of commemoration at the South Pole. Here Gould places a plastic wreath of remembrance.
Antarctica, 1969.
Here Gould helps to cut a cake in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty.
Antarctica, 1969.
During this visit, Gould visited a deposit near the Beardmore Glacier to investigate a recent fossil find. Gould and fellow National Science Board member Grover Murray confirmed that the fossil was a 240 million year old reptile skull associated with tropical climates and closely resembling others found in relative abundance in South Africa. Here was compelling evidence supporting the then still controversial theory of continental drift, and suggesting that Africa and Antarctica had once been attached. Gould and Murray immediately radioed the National Science Foundation in Washington, with the news that this was "not only the most important fossil ever found in Antarctica, but one of the truly great fossil finds of all time."
Arthropodichnus Gouldi, December 1969.
Just after returning from Antarctica, Gould poses with a slab of Devonian sandstone more than 350 million years old and bearing tracks of an ancient arthropod. While this fossil lacked the scientific significance of the younger reptile skull, it had a certain personal meaning, for the arthropod had been named in Gould's honor.
Larry Gould, 1971.
The Bellingshausen-Lazarev Medal.
Gould was only the second American to have been honored with this medal given by the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
Carleton Commencement, 1971.
Gould was on hand to read citations for honorary degrees awarded to Atherton Bean and Reed Whittemore.
In 1971 the University of Arizona created its College of Earth Sciences, with Gould serving initially as its acting director. In March of the following year, in recognition of his many outstanding services and contributions, and in appreciation for "the personal inspiration you have provided to your students and associates," the University of Arizona Alumni Association bestowed upon Gould its "Distinguished Citizen Award." The same day the University dedicated the Laurence M. Gould Seminar Room in its Geology Building.
A 1973 return to campus for dedication of the geology library in honor of protegee Duncan Stewart.
In the background is one of four murals painted in 1957 by Carleton Art professor Dean Warnholtz, to commemorate Gould's responsibilities in connection with the International Geophysical Year. These murals hung in the Severance Tea Room for many years; two are currently hanging in Olin Hall.
SCAR Conference, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1974.
Gould enjoyed associating with colleagues in the international Antarctic research organization which he served so many years as president. With Gould here are members from Norway, the United Kingdom, and France.
Carleton College, 1975.
Gould was present for the dedication of the new Seely G. Mudd Hall of Science, when he unexpectedly was given an opportunity to greet an old friend -- Schiller.
"G2V", the Goulds' summer cabin near Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Larry first travelled through Jackson Hole in 1924, on his way to conduct geological research in Utah. This modest cabin was a summer home for Peg and Larry from 1954. It was a place they filled, with the help of scores of visitors, with many years of good memories.
Displaying the day's catch, summer 1976.
This photograph was placed in a Gould photo album with the caption "And mighty tasty, too!"
Enroute to Antarctica again, January 1977.
Here he is at the airport in Christchurch, New Zealand. Gould's sixth trip to the Ice, in company with several members of the National Science Foundation's governing board, was a two-week excursion to inspect some of the 84 research projects then being conducted on the continent.
Antarctica, 1977.
How old would you guess this face to be? Gould was now 80. To say that he carried his years well would be rather an understatement. In fact, Gould was simply continuing to follow a prescription he had set for himself some dozen years earlier: "I think I've found a way to keep young. Winter in Tucson, summer at Jackson Hole, with an occasional visit to Antarctica. That's my recipe for retirement."
Gould's final trip to Antarctica, November 1979.
In the late 1970s Gould finally retired from active teaching at the University of Arizona. In November 1979, at age 83, he returned again to Antarctica with a group that included Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr. of Virginia, Admiral Byrd's nephew, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic expedition. "When I got off the plane and stood on the ice once again," he told a reporter after the excursion, "I had what amounted to almost a physical thrill. I was back to my spiritual home."
Antarctic locations named for Gould.
The simple beauty of Antarctica penetrated Gould and left its mark on him. And he left his mark on Antarctica, not least on its map. Six physical features connected with the continent bear his name.
More awards.
Accolades and honors continued to come Gould's way. Nearby is the medal accompanying the National Science Foundation's Distinguished Service Award, given to Gould in 1979 on the 50th anniversary of the Byrd flight. In 1981 he attended a banquet in his honor in Washington, to receive the highly prestigious Cosmos Club Award. The following year he was given the last of his 26 honorary degrees, from the University of Arizona. The citation read:

Laurence McKinley Gould-- You have combined several careers with brilliance and grace. You are a geologist, educator, explorer, diplomat and humanitarian. Your contributions as a teacher, researcher, scientist and statesman are incalculable. You are perhaps the world's leading specialist in glacial geology. Your years of Arctic and Antarctic exploration, research and writing have established a solid foundation for all future polar exploration, vitally important today as we search for new sources of energy. In recognition of your contribution to mankind, and to the quality of your own life, the University of Arizona confers upon you the degree of Doctor of Science.
Portrait used in connection with the Cosmos Club Award, 1981.
The Cosmos Club was started in 1878 by Grand Canyon explorer and U.S. Geological Survey founder John Wesley Powell. The Cosmos Club Award honors those with international stature in science and the arts. Gould was the eighteenth recipient, and first geologist to win the award. Previous honorees included such luminaries as Helen Hayes, Samuel Eliot Morison, Archibald MacLeish, and Sir Kenneth Clark.
At home in Tucson, 1981.
The garden outside "Casa Gould", 1983.
The photograph was captioned "Larry's garden."
A new edition of Cold.
In 1984 Carleton College re-published Cold, with a new epilogue by the author.
Dedication of the Gould-Simpson Building, University of Arizona, Mar. 21, 1986.
Gould was bowled over when he learned of the University of Arizona's intention to name their new science building -- the tallest building on the university's main campus -- after himself and paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson. Here, in tandem with Dr. Simpson's widow, he participates proudly in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Larry and Peg, Arizona, 1986.
As Gould approached his 90th birthday physical frailities began to manifest themselves for both Larry and Peg. But life continued to hold out many satisfactions. The Goulds were blessed with a wide circle of dear and devoted friends. Some of these, like Carleton alumni Clark and Ardith Arnold, were Tucson neighbors, while others simply looked forward to any opportunity to visit.
Gould continued to be "forever a part of Carleton" through attendance at college events such as the annual alumni gatherings at the nearby Tanque Verde guest ranch.
Autographing a copy of "Cold" at Reunion '87.
Gould's last visit to Carleton was for Reunion Weekend of 1987 - the 25th anniversary of his retirement as president.
August 22, 1987 - Gould on his 91st birthday.
Note the globe in the background, turned so that the South Pole is uppermost.
With a young friend, date unknown.
Peg and Larry, with their narwhal tusk, date unknown.
Just short of 58 years after exchanging marriage vows in Michigan, Larry Gould lost his life partner to cancer. In 1985 the Carleton Board of Trustees had recognized Peg Gould on her 80th birthday with a resolution expressing appreciation for her "strength and beauty of character" which had been a light unto her many friends and admirers.
Permanent display at the University of Arizona, 1993.
Gould's last public appearance was in November 1993 at the unveiling of a permanent exhibit in a glass cabinet in the Gould-Simpson Building lobby. The cabinet was built with donations from his friends, and displays the hoods from each of Gould's honorary doctoral degrees.
Larry Gould died June 21, 1995 at age 98. His passing was noted with sorrow by friends and admirers on every continent. Obituaries from coast to coast and across oceans summarized his remarkable career, outlined his achievements and ennumerated his honors. The Arizona Daily Star, observing that Gould's death recalled to society's memory "entire vistas of history and life," eulogized him as "truly a wise and generous man who had seen much ... a life of vision and charm has departed."

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