Gilbert Byron

Gilbert Valliant Byron (July 12, 1903 - June 25, 1991) was an American poet known as "The Voice of the Chesapeake, and also referred to as "the Chesapeake Thoreau" (because he shares a birth date with Henry David Thoreau).

Life
He was born in Chestertown, Maryland. Byron is known for his poems, short stories, novels, historical research, magazine and newspaper columns and articles detailing life on the Chesapeake Bay throughout the 20th century. During his lifetime, he had published 14 books and over 70 short stories, poems, and articles. His books and poems, including The Lord's Oysters, Done Crabbin', and These Chesapeake Men, make up what is likely the largest collection of written works on the Chesapeake Bay area authored by one person.

Byron lived on the Chesapeake nearly all of his life. The log cabin where he resided for 45 years of his life was saved from destruction and ultimately preserved, and is currently at Pickering Creek in Easton, Maryland. The Gilbert Bryon Society was founded in 1991 to cultivate an awareness and appreciation of the Chesapeake Bay region's literature in particular, and the environment in general, through the works and legacy of Gilbert Bryon. The Society is a subcommittee of the Pickering Creek Audubon Center. Gilbert Byron died shortly before his 88th birthday.