O'ROURKE, Edmund N., Jr. 1923-

PERSONAL: Born November 22, 1923, in New Orleans, LA; son of Edmund N. (a postal worker) and Gladys (a homemaker; maiden name, Adams) O'Rourke; married Rosemary Louque, July 23, 1947; children: Brian Patrick. Ethnicity: "White." Education: Southwestern Louisiana Institute, B.S., 1946; Cornell University, M.S., 1952, Ph.D., 1955. Politics: Conservative. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Fishing, reading, gardening.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Louisiana State University Press, P.O. Box 25053, Baton Rouge, LA 70894.

CAREER: Educator and horticulturalist. Owner of a commercial greenhouse business, New Orleans, LA, 1945-48; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cairo, GA, investigator, 1948-51; Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, professor of horticulture, 1954-91, professor emeritus, 1991—. Military service: U.S. Army, Infantry, 1943-45; served in European theater; received five battle stars.

WRITINGS:

(With Leon C. Stannifer) Gardening in the Humid South, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Edmund N. O'Rourke, Jr. told CA: "Almost seventy years of growing plants professionally and as a hobby in the lower South has exposed me to challenges unique to this region's climate and soils. Very few gardening books deal with this area, and I see a need for some elucidation of the basics of plant physiology and plant/soil interactions presented in a form that gardeners with little formal study may find of benefit. I enjoy exchanges of information with other gardeners."