This globetrotting, fruit-obsessed maverick launched the American date industry and saved the Medjool date from extinction. He also invented the Tangelo, classified the Key Lime and Monk Fruit. and brought fig growth to America with an Italian wasp he smuggled home in a cigarette case. But his greatest achievement? His marriage to fellow hautie Maude Kellerman.

Walter Tennyson Swingle went by many titles, from “Plant Explorer” to “author” to “Dr. Swingle,” but to us, he was simply “great grandfather” - and a major source of inspiration for Haute Date.

Meet our O.G. (and other favorite hauties!) on our Swipe Right blog.