May Theilgaard Watts was a renowned teacher, writer, naturalist, and defender of native plants and landscapes in her native Midwest. Watts was the first staff naturalist at the Morton Arboretum, and a founder of the rails-to-trails movement. Her successor at the Morton Arboretum, Alfred Etter, said of her, "Many were the causes May Watts might have worked for during her life. She was so capable, dependable, sure, imaginative; such an acute and sensitive observer, an artist, writer, poet, gardener. But she chose to encourage in people an appreciation of nature. It was a fortunate choice for us all. Thousands of people have been entertained, inspired, subtly informed, and often converted by her books, lectures, and field trips. Her book, Reading the Landscape, took the jargon out of ecology, and made it approachable by anyone.