University of Texas Press, 2017 eISBN: 978-1-4773-1239-1 | Cloth: 978-1-4773-1238-4 Library of Congress Classification QL31.E54E33 2017 Dewey Decimal Classification 598.07234764
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Victor Emanuel is widely considered one of America’s leading birders. He has observed more than six thousand species during travels that have taken him to every continent. He founded the largest company in the world specializing in birding tours and one of the most respected ones in ecotourism. Emanuel has received some of birding’s highest honors, including the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He also started the first birding camps for young people, which he considers one of his greatest achievements.
In One More Warbler, Emanuel recalls a lifetime of birding adventures—from his childhood sighting of a male Cardinal that ignited his passion for birds to a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Asia to observe all eight species of cranes of that continent. He tells fascinating stories of meeting his mentors who taught him about birds, nature, and conservation, and later, his close circle of friends—Ted Parker, Peter Matthiessen, George Plimpton, Roger Tory Peterson, and others—who he frequently birded and traveled with around the world. Emanuel writes about the sighting of an Eskimo Curlew, thought to be extinct, on Galveston Island; setting an all-time national record during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count; attempting to see the Imperial Woodpecker in northwestern Mexico; and birding on the far-flung island of Attu on the Aleutian chain. Over the years, Emanuel became a dedicated mentor himself, teaching hundreds of young people the joys and enrichment of birding. “Birds changed my life,” says Emanuel, and his stories make clear how a deep connection to the natural world can change everyone’s life.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Victor Emanuel is the founder of Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT). His travels have taken him around the world, particularly the American Southwest, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. In 1957, he founded (and continues to compile) the record-breaking Freeport Christmas Bird Count, and he has also served as president of the Texas Ornithological Society.
S. Kirk Walsh is a writer, editor, and teacher, whose work has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Boston Globe, among other print and online publications.
REVIEWS
Geopolitically sensitive and savvy, and already looking ahead to habitat preservation, Mr. Emanuel was holistic from the very beginning…Mr. Emanuel's passion for birds was always placed within a larger philosophical framework. Yet even as he quotes one of the maxims at Delphi—'nothing in excess'—he can't help pushing to see, on a spring evening before a dinner party, 'just one more warbler.' Such love of discovery is the hum under the magical stories Mr. Emanuel tells.
— Wall Street Journal
Birding with Victor Emanuel will change the way you see the natural world. It’s an experience everyone should have.
— Laura Bush
Victor Emanuel is a remarkable man who found his mentors in birding and went on to become a leader in that community for the past fifty years. In One More Warbler, Victor shares his wide-ranging adventures across the globe, including the story of his enormously influential ecotourism company, and the reasons why he become a mentor himself to whole generations of young ornithologists. It’s a fascinating read.
— Kenn Kaufman, author of Kingbird Highway
Long before anyone used the word ‘ecotourism,’ Victor Emanuel had devoted his life to the mission of sharing with others his passion for birds and nature. His literary sophistication, boundless curiosity, commitment to mentoring, and raw, childlike exuberance have earned him friendships with writers, filmmakers, politicians, and educators the world over. This book is classic Victor: a tapestry of anecdotes, adventures, philosophical musings, and tributes to people, all woven together by glowing words of admiration for the rich diversity of birds that grace our lives, and define his.
— John Fitzpatrick, Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
University of Texas Press, 2017 eISBN: 978-1-4773-1239-1 Cloth: 978-1-4773-1238-4
Victor Emanuel is widely considered one of America’s leading birders. He has observed more than six thousand species during travels that have taken him to every continent. He founded the largest company in the world specializing in birding tours and one of the most respected ones in ecotourism. Emanuel has received some of birding’s highest honors, including the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He also started the first birding camps for young people, which he considers one of his greatest achievements.
In One More Warbler, Emanuel recalls a lifetime of birding adventures—from his childhood sighting of a male Cardinal that ignited his passion for birds to a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Asia to observe all eight species of cranes of that continent. He tells fascinating stories of meeting his mentors who taught him about birds, nature, and conservation, and later, his close circle of friends—Ted Parker, Peter Matthiessen, George Plimpton, Roger Tory Peterson, and others—who he frequently birded and traveled with around the world. Emanuel writes about the sighting of an Eskimo Curlew, thought to be extinct, on Galveston Island; setting an all-time national record during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count; attempting to see the Imperial Woodpecker in northwestern Mexico; and birding on the far-flung island of Attu on the Aleutian chain. Over the years, Emanuel became a dedicated mentor himself, teaching hundreds of young people the joys and enrichment of birding. “Birds changed my life,” says Emanuel, and his stories make clear how a deep connection to the natural world can change everyone’s life.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Victor Emanuel is the founder of Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT). His travels have taken him around the world, particularly the American Southwest, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. In 1957, he founded (and continues to compile) the record-breaking Freeport Christmas Bird Count, and he has also served as president of the Texas Ornithological Society.
S. Kirk Walsh is a writer, editor, and teacher, whose work has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Boston Globe, among other print and online publications.
REVIEWS
Geopolitically sensitive and savvy, and already looking ahead to habitat preservation, Mr. Emanuel was holistic from the very beginning…Mr. Emanuel's passion for birds was always placed within a larger philosophical framework. Yet even as he quotes one of the maxims at Delphi—'nothing in excess'—he can't help pushing to see, on a spring evening before a dinner party, 'just one more warbler.' Such love of discovery is the hum under the magical stories Mr. Emanuel tells.
— Wall Street Journal
Birding with Victor Emanuel will change the way you see the natural world. It’s an experience everyone should have.
— Laura Bush
Victor Emanuel is a remarkable man who found his mentors in birding and went on to become a leader in that community for the past fifty years. In One More Warbler, Victor shares his wide-ranging adventures across the globe, including the story of his enormously influential ecotourism company, and the reasons why he become a mentor himself to whole generations of young ornithologists. It’s a fascinating read.
— Kenn Kaufman, author of Kingbird Highway
Long before anyone used the word ‘ecotourism,’ Victor Emanuel had devoted his life to the mission of sharing with others his passion for birds and nature. His literary sophistication, boundless curiosity, commitment to mentoring, and raw, childlike exuberance have earned him friendships with writers, filmmakers, politicians, and educators the world over. This book is classic Victor: a tapestry of anecdotes, adventures, philosophical musings, and tributes to people, all woven together by glowing words of admiration for the rich diversity of birds that grace our lives, and define his.
— John Fitzpatrick, Director, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
1. Early Days
2. The Tropics
3. Freeport Christmas Count
4. The Bird of My Life
5. Beginnings
6. Meeting Curlew
7. The Triumph
8. Search for the Imperial Woodpecker
9. My Travels with King Penguin
10. The Mozart of Birding
11. New Territories
12. The Big Day
13. The Next Generation of Birders
14. End of the Earth
15. The Birds Of Heaven: Cranes, Asia, and Peter
16. Birding with the Bushes
17. Palace on Wheels
18. Birding on the Edge
19. Voyage on the Sea Cloud
20. My True Obsession
21. My World
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Suggested Readings
Index
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC