FoldingGuides™ Fish Guides Press Information

As the former Director of the Peterson Field Guide Series™, Steven Lewers has had a longstanding interest in nature identification. When he first saw the print, die-cut, and lamination process patented by FastMark, Inc. of Palo-Alto, CA and used in FoldingGuides™, he was convinced that it was the ideal format for curious beginners in the field.

Having completed a consulting project with FastMark, Inc. to introduce its laminated guide format to book publishers looking for new line extension, Lewers couldn't resist the temptation to publish an experimental guide of his own-- The Ultimate Guide to Sanibel & Captiva Shells and Beach Life was first published in 1999 and launched what is now its FoldingGuide™ Series.

"We tried Sanibel Shells first because it was a perfect test of our idea: laminated guides on very specific areas, using high quality illustrations (not photographs) and species lists and captions written by local experts, are much more useful than general books and field guides, especially for the beginner.

With the small islands of Sanibel and Captiva FL, incontrovertibly the ground zero of shelling in North America, and with the profusion of other seashell guidebooks available in all the shops there, this first guide was a perfect proof-of-concept for our line."

Sanibel Shells & Beach Life, along with the 5 other shell identification FoldingGuides™, have gone on to become standard references for their respective locales.

Using the same editorial formula and patented laminated format, Steven Lewers & Associates has most recently tackled saltwater fish identification to Gulf of Mexico and Southeast Atlantic coastal areas where its other guides have become so popular. Species lists, captions, and map call-outs have been written by well-known fish expert Dr. Robert Shipp, head of the Marine Science Department of the Univeristy of South Alabama. Dr. Shipp is a columnist for Sport Fishing Magazine.

The illustrations were drawn by renown marine artist Diane Peebles, who first did them for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Department.

There are currently four fish identification titles:

Sanibel & Captiva Fishes
Fishes of Florida's Gulf Coast (covering the Florida Gulf Coast from Panama City to Everglades City)
Fishes of the Northern & Western Gulf Coast (covering the Gulf Coast from Panama City west and south to the Texas/Mexican border)
Fishes of Florida's Atlantic Coast ( covering from St. Augustine south and west to Key West, FL)

FoldingGuides™ are available in local gift shops, museum and nature stores, bookstores, and on the web at www.foldingguides.com

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