Acclaimed nature photographer dies

World-renowned wildlife photographer Tom Ulrich of West Glacier died Friday at the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, Missouri, from a rare form of leukemia.

A freelance photographer since 1975, Ulrich, 68, was best known for his nature photography skills. Many of his more than 800,000 photos have been used by numerous magazines and other publications, including National Wildlife, Audubon, Outdoor Oklahoma, Sierra, American Hunter, Ranger Rick, Alaska, National Geographic, Montana Outdoors, Life and many others, according to his website.

He conducted photography seminars throughout the country and was a guest lecturer at numerous universities.

Kalispell outdoor writer Ben Long said Ulrich was a great mentor who took aspiring photographers under his wing with an approachable, down-to-earth style.

“Tom was a very knowledgeable and passionate photographer who knew and loved his subject matter and it showed in every picture he took,” Long said.

Bigfork photographer and writer Bert Gildart, a close personal friend of Ulrich since the mid-1970s, said Ulrich was one of the most published photographers in the country and honed his craft with complete dedication to his subject matter.

“He was so intent on getting the very best picture he could, and that inspired me,” Gildart said. “He’d position himself in the most appropriate situation. He knew wildlife, he knew where they were going, what they were doing.”

Gildart said Ulrich was a teacher at heart who shared his knowledge far and wide.

Ulrich published seven nature books during his career, including “Mammals of the Canadian Rockies,” “Birds of the Canadian Rockies,” “Mammals of the Northern Rockies,” “Birds of the Northern Rockies,” “Once Upon a Frame,” “Photo Pantanal,” and “Mt. Reynolds: The Story.”

He taught biological sciences at Fairfield, Illinois, Community High School in the early 1970s and taught photography, local flora, botany and other subjects at Frontier Community College in Fairfield.

Gildart called his friend a “profoundly individualistic man and genuinely good person.” He shared his recollections about Ulrich on his blog, remembering how Ulrich lived in a van until he built his own cabin near West Glacier.

“In the 1970s he needed to balance his income, and to do so he tapped into unique situations,” Gildart wrote, recalling how Ulrich, who had once competed for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in swimming, would don scuba gear and would swim along river bottoms retrieving lost hooks.

“He’d then bundle them up and resell them at various outlets he had established,” Gildart said. “Pricing the lures at eight for a dollar, returns were significant, because of the high volume.”

Through the years Ulrich presented many slideshows of his work. He presented an annual wildlife slideshow for many years in the Flathead Valley, donating proceeds from his presentations to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flathead County, an organization he supported.

“We are so grateful to Tom Ulrich for being a Big Brother in our program for several years and being a lifelong supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters, said Jesse Mahugh, executive director at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flathead County. “Tom was on a great adventure and we are so lucky that we got to be part of it.”

Ulrich led tours to remote parts of the world for many years, from Patagonia and Costa Rica to the Galapagos Islands and East Africa. Of particular interest to him was what he called “the greatest aviary spectacle known to man” in Pantanal, Brazil.

He received many prestigious awards throughout his 42-year career in photography. In 2005 he received the North American Nature Photography Association’s Fellow Award.

Gildart said Ulrich had recovered from open-heart surgery last October, but fell ill in late December and was diagnosed with “one of the worst forms” of leukemia.

A memorial service is being planned for sometime this spring in the Flathead Valley.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.