Larry K . Martin
“ My sister
Janice may be responsible for me thinking I can paint .” International Wildlife Artist , Larry K . Martin , says one of his earliest memories of painting was around 4 years old . “ I ’ m sure it was an animal that I drew or painted and she thought it was good , at least she said so ,” Martin recalls . “ And so I thought I had to be an artist .”
Martin , originally from the Saks community , graduated from Anniston High School in 1957 and went on to receive a double major in mathematics and biology at Jacksonville State University . “ Most of my classmates will say they remember I kept a piece of paper inside my book and drew during lectures .”
Martin says drawing and painting became his escape , which carried on into his graduate work at Tulane University where Martin achieved a PhD in Tropical Medicine . “ As the years went on , in the academic field ,
By Kelsey Butler
it would , at times , be fairly stressful ,” Martin remembers . “ So I would study until maybe 10 or 12 at night , and then I might draw or paint anywhere from 2 to 4 in the morning .”
After graduating from Tulane , Martin served in the U . S . Army and was stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for eight years . During that time , he combined tropical medicine research in the laboratory with field research in the Amazon . “ I specialized mostly in parasitology , the study of parasites , but I was really more into human populations and parasitic infections ,” Martin says . “ It would be more accurate to say I was in epidemiology , the study of communication of diseases , tropical diseases under different conditions , and different kind of parasitic infections . I miss that .”
In the 70s , Martin returned to his home state . “ I always had an affinity for Alabama and this area ,” he says . Martin spent three years as Curator of the Anniston Museum of
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INSIGHT