Clay Perry
Clair Willard Perry (1887–1961), called Clay Perry, was an American writer and outdoorsman. He coined the term "spelunker".
Biography
Born in 1887 in Waupaca, Wisconsin, Perry moved to western Massachusetts as a young man. A novelist, short story writer, and journalist, in the 1930s he worked for the Federal Writers' Project. He is best known as an amateur caver and as a writer on the caves of New England and the northeastern United States. He is credited with coining the term spelunker in the 1940s. He was also the author of a light verse on Israel Bissell, whose ride in April 1775 to warn the colonies of the Battles of Lexington and Concord was overshadowed in historical lore by that of Paul Revere. He died in 1961 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
He wrote the books "Caves in the Vicinity of Pittsfield, Massachusetts", "Buried Treasures of New England", and "Underground Empire, Wonders and Tales of New York Caves", which should be available from the Pittsfield, MA library.
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