Gary Lincoff

Lincoff was born in Pittsburgh in 1942 to Bette Forman and Leonard Lincoff, an optometrist. He attended the University of Pittsburgh, and graduated with a BA degree in philosophy in 1963.^[1]

Lincoff began foraging for wild foods, including mushrooms, in the early 1970s.^[2] He began teaching at the New York Botanical Garden where he continued to teach for 40 years.^[3] In 1978, Lincoff published a book on toxic mushrooms; and was shortly thereafter recruited to write Field Guide to North American Mushrooms for the National Audubon Society.^[1] The book sold over 500,000 copies.^[4] He held the position of president of the North American Mycological Association for nine years.^[1]

In 1981, Lincoff co-founded, with Emanuel Salzman and Andrew Weil, Paul Stamets and others, the Telluride Mushroom Festival.^[1] Lincoff wrote scientific papers in peer-reviewed academic journals as well as in popular science publications, and was a regular contributor to FUNGI Magazine. Books that he authored or co-authored include Guide to Mushrooms (Simon and Schuster), The Complete Mushroom Hunter, The Mushroom Book (Eyewitness Guides),^[5] Toxic and Hallucinogenic Mushroom Poisoning: A Handbook For Physicians and Mushroom Hunters,^[6] among others.^[7]

Lincoff met Irene Liberman in 1967, whom he married. They had one son, Noah. Gary also had a brother, Bennett.^[1]

In 2016, Lincoff received the MSA Award from the Mycological Society of America,^[8] and in 2017 received the Gordon and Tina Wasson Prize award from the Mycological Society of America.^[9]

The North American Mycological Association's Gary Lincoff Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology is named for him.^[10]

• Giuliana Furci
• Paul Stamets