Jack London park ranger Gregory Hayes dies at 62

As a fellow writer and a serious student of literature, retired Jack London State Historic Park Ranger Greg Hayes enjoyed a special link to the life and works of the renowned novelist who long occupied the expanse of farmland and woods near Glen Ellen.

Hayes, who also played a major role in preventing the Jack London park’s closure as a stalwart of the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association, died Wednesday after a long siege of cancer. He was 62.

“We thought of him as the heart and soul of this park,” said Susan St. Marie, an associate director of the nonprofit association that has overseen the park’s operation since mid-2012.

“He had strong but quiet leadership qualities, always somebody you can trust and believe,” said St. Marie. “They say ‘One in a million.’ That was really true with him.”

Hayes met his wife, Robin Fautley, at Jack London Park in the late 1970s.

“He was an avid lover of nature,” said Fautley, a longtime instructor and faculty leader at Santa Rosa Junior College. She noted that her husband earned a masters in American literature at Sonoma State University and completed a thesis titled, “Jack London’s Agrarian Superheroes.”

Details of London’s life “were his personal field of study,” Fautley said. The park’s visitor center carries the paperback book Hayes wrote on London’s ill-fated Wolf House. He also wrote “Recalling the Wild: The Literary Nature of Jack London State Park.”

Gregory William Hayes was born and grew up in Los Angeles. He studied at UCLA, earning a degree in English.

Hired as a young state parks ranger, he was assigned first to the Channel Coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, then to the Santa Cruz area. He had a keen desire to work at the 1,400-acre park that was Jack London’s Beauty Ranch from 1905 until London’s death in 1916.

It delighted Hayes to win an assignment to the London park in 1978. He hadn’t been there long when Fautley came to the park to supervise and work alongside a team of students on a Youth Conservation Corps crew. She and the literary ranger fell in love, married and gave birth to a daughter, Nicolette, who lives now in New York City.

Fautley said her husband’s interest in the life and writing of Jack London deepened as he became immersed in the park and introduced legions of visitors to the history and assets of the place. He enrolled at SSU and, focusing on London’s works, earned a masters degree in literature.

His wife and fellow advocates of the state park said his knowledge of London made him the ideal person to interpret the historical preserve to visitors.

“He was the best partner a guy could have,” said retired ranger Matt Atkinson. For a time, the two of them were the only rangers assigned to the London park.

From 1980 until 2001, Hayes and his wife lived in the ranger’s house inside the park

“He was very knowledgeable, a consummate professional with the public,” Atkinson said.

Among the other rangers with whom Hayes worked over the years was Wardell Noel, who served mostly at Annadel State Park. Noel was 68 when he died of cancer just last month.

Hayes retired in 2003 and became a docent at the London park. In addition, he put his vast knowledge and experience to work training docents.

Hayes joined the Valley of the Moon Historical Association and served as president through the period when the state budget crisis threatened to close the park, as well as Annadel and Sugarloaf Ridge state parks.

The Valley of the Moon association created the Jack London Park Partners to manage the London park.

The saving of the historic and recreational jewel in 2012 was a triumph to Hayes. He continued to benefit the volunteer operation with generous donations of his time, expertise, caring and humor. “He was just a sweet, gentle, funny individual,” St. Marie said. “He was just an invaluable person.”

Like London, Hayes was a driven and prolific writer. He recently completed a book of poetry titled “Earthsweats.”

In addition to his wife in Santa Rosa and his daughter in New York, he is survived by his brother, Vertis Hayes of Los Angeles.

A celebration of his life will be held at 10 a.m. on July 20 inside the winery ruins at Jack London park. Carpooling is encouraged.

Hayes’ family suggests memorial contributions to the park he loved at http://jacklondonpark.com/jack-london-be-a-partner.html. Or to:

The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/LagunaFoundation

Environmental Traveling Companions: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/etc?code=1

Tiffany Beth’s effort to fight cancer in the Relay for Life: http://go.Relay.Org/Y8Rlc