J. Stannard Baker

James Stannard Baker (1899-1995) grew up in Amherst MA, son of Pulitzer prize winning reporter Ray Stannard Baker. He earned a BA in Electrical Engineering at University of Wisconsin where he met his wife and lifelong companion, Fran. Stan was drawn to adventures of the mind as well as outdoor adventures where he was one of the early civilian summer rangers in Yellowstone Park. He pursued ice boating at Wisconsin, but his preferred recreational activity was canoe and kayak camping trips. Highlights included trying out for the US Olympic canoe team, paddling the length of the Mississippi with a college friend and the four-month paddling trip he and his wife took through depression era Europe, as recounted in Paddling Through Depression Era Europe: Eight Countries by Canoe and Kayak. Stan and Fran were active in the American Canoe Association and paddled lakes and rivers throughout the Midwest and in the Canadian Border waters, often with children. For most of his adult life he lived in the Chicago area where he was director of research at the Northwestern Traffic Institute. He was known as “the father of accident investigation” for his groundbreaking work developing techniques for traffic accident investigation and his book, Traffic Accident Investigation Manual, was the world standard through eight editions.