For the Love of the Industry: Arnold Mallis
1 Oct, 2007 By: Jerry Mix Pest Management ProfessionalArnold Mallis devoted his life to helping professionals learn about the technical side of professional pest management
When it comes to being fondly remembered years after your death, 2007 Hall of Fame inductee Arnold Mallis probably ranks near the top of the list.
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Mallis, who died in 1984 and is probably best remembered for launching his Handbook of Pest Control, was a generous, kind-hearted man who made many friends along the way.
Mallis was born on Oct. 15, 1910, in New York. His parents were Sophia and David Mallis, who emigrated from Russia in 1904 and 1907, respectively. They moved to California when Mallis was a teenager.
Early in his career, Mallis held a series of positions. While Mallis was earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in entomology at the University of California in 1934 and 1939, respectively, he worked for the U.S. Forestry Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and two pest management firms. Mallis reportedly was one of the first people to take and pass the California pest control operators examination.
In 1943, Mallis married Shirley Sperber, who graduated from Cleveland's Case Western University and then earned a master's degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She taught kindergarten in both Pittsburgh and State College, Pa. Shirley lived until 2004. The Mallises had two daughters and six grandchildren.
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The Handbook's beginnings
Mallis started working on the Handbook in 1939, and the first edition appeared in 1945. He then wrote new editions in 1954, 1960, l964 and 1969. Mallis reportedly wrote the first five editions by himself at night after he finished work.
"Mallis was one of those guys who had such a compelling interest in the subject of pest control that he wrote the Handbook without any understanding that it would sell," remembers Dan Moreland, publisher of Pest Control Technology magazine. Parent company GIE Media publishes and markets the Handbook today.
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"He did the Handbook for the love of the field, and earned the respect of everyone out there because they knew his heart was in the right place," Moreland adds. "There wasn't anything at the time that covered the subject. Mallis wrote the Handbook because he identified a need."
Moreland points out that practically everyone in the industry still speaks highly of Mallis.
"He was a kind-hearted man," Moreland adds. "He also had an appreciation for the academic side of entomology, so he bridged both worlds."
In the late-1970s, Mallis was approached by GIE Media President Richard Foster about writing the sixth edition of the book, but this came about after Mallis had retired, and he turned down the offer. GIE then turned to using several different authors, with Mallis' name continuing on the book.
For the past two editions, Stoy Hedges, director of Technical Services for Terminix International, has been the editorial director of the Handbook. While Hedges never had the opportunity to meet Mallis, Harry Katz did. Ninety-two-year-old Katz, a Pest Control Hall of Famer, was friends with Mallis for nearly half a century.
Looking back on his relationship with Mallis, Katz recounts, "There was a memorial gathering for Mallis at Penn State University, in State College, after his death and I gave a speech. I said that there is a legend among the Jews that the world exists because of the presence of 36 extremely righteous Jews. These people don't know who they are, but because of these 36 people, God doesn't destroy the world. I would consider Mallis one of these people."
Entomologist through and through
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