Curwood was a vivid, forceful and immensely popular writer who brought the message of nature, wildlife and conservation to millions of readers. Curwood wrote, “It is my ambition to take readers with me into the heart of nature.” The out-of-doors life was for him a universal panacea. He encouraged all to partake and experience nature and enjoy all its benefits. He even believed that he would live to be a hundred years old, but his life was cut short by blood poisoning possibly caused by a spider bite. He died August 13, 1927, in Owosso, Michigan, his birthplace.

Upon his death he left behind his second wife, Ethel, who had experienced firsthand so much of what Curwood had written, and their son James Jr. along with two daughters. Curwood’s legacy lies in his writings that acted as a liaison between the masses and nature. What Curwood did, perhaps not by design but inadvertently, was to lead millions of readers a step closer to an appreciation for nature and wildlife.