before. Awards and accomplishments Burgess was actively involved with conservation efforts. Some of his projects during his lifetime included: Helping to pass laws protecting migrant wildlife. "The Green Meadow Club" for land conservation programs. "The Bedtime Stories Club" for wildlife protection programs. "Happy Jack Squirrel Saving Club" for War Savings Stamps & Bonds. The Radio Nature League broadcast from WBZA in Boston and WBZ in Springfield, Massachusetts. For his efforts, Burgess also received: An Honorary Literary Degree in 1938, from Northeastern University A special gold medal from the Museum of Science in Boston, for "leading children down the path to the wide wonderful world of the outdoors" The Distinguished Service Medal of the Permanent Wildlife Protection Fund. Legacy and influence Wildlife Sanctuaries and Museum After his death, the Massachusetts Audubon Society purchased Burgess' Hampden home and established the Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary at that location; the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Thornton W. Burgess Society operates the Green Briar Nature Center in East Sandwich, Massachusetts. The Society's Thornton W. Burgess Museum in Sandwich closed to the public October 2012. Other A middle school in Hampden, Massachusetts was named after Burgess in honor of his work for conservation. The school opened in 1967 and was closed by the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District in June 2018. In the early 1970s, an anime television adaptation of some of Burgess' works was produced by a Japanese animation studio and was later distributed worldwide. The English language translation was entitled Fables of the Green Forest. John Crowley's novel Little, Big (1980) includes allusions to locations and characters in Burgess' stories. Books References Sources Library of Congress Catalog No. 60-11637 Further reading Lowrance, Christine Palmer. Nature's Ambassador: The Legacy of Thornton W. Burgess, Schiffer Publishing, External links Works by Thornton Burgess at Hathi Trust Digital Library The Thornton W. Burgess Society Official website 1874 births 1965 deaths American children's writers American conservationists People from Hampden, Massachusetts People from Sandwich, Massachusetts