Victor Emanuel, a renowned birder whose adventures around the world in pursuit of imperial woodpeckers, red-crowned cranes and other avian wonders were chronicled by George Plimpton, Peter Matthiessen and Rose Styron, died on March 11 in Austin, Texas. He was 84.
The cause of his death, in a senior living facility, was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his nephew, Steven Emanuel, said.
Mr. Emanuel made a business out of his reverential regard for birds when he founded Victor Emanuel Nature Tours in 1976. (“When he comes to New York for a visit,” Mr. Plimpton once noted in Audubon magazine, “he arrives at our apartment with a pair of binoculars hanging from his neck.”)
Among the first to specialize in ecotourism, his company,66cassino based in Austin, employs dozens of guides who lead hundreds of expeditions a year. In addition to writers, Mr. Emanuel’s bird-watching companions included Prince Philip, the filmmaker Terrence Malick and former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, who was a promoter of conservation efforts in Texas.
The Bushes once invited Mr. Emanuel to their sprawling ranch in Crawford.
“You ought to go down and look at the birds,” Mr. Emanuel told Mr. Bush, according to Texas Monthly.
“I’m a bird shooter,” Mr. Bush replied. “That’s all I’ve done as a kid — you know, I shoot ’em.”
Calls for school crackdowns have mounted with reports of cyberbullying among adolescents and studies indicating that smartphones, which offer round-the-clock distraction and social media access, have hindered academic instruction and the mental health of children.
Mr. Bush thought about it. He was intrigued.
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