A Love Affair With Birds: The Life Of Thomas Sadler Roberts,New

The Father Of Minnesota Ornithology, Whose Life Story Opens A Window On A Lost World Of Nature And Conservation In The States Early Daysimagine A Minneapolis So Small That, On Calm Days, The Roar Of St. Anthony Falls Could Be Heard In Town, A Time When Passenger Pigeons Roosted In Neighborhood Oak Trees. Now Picture A Dapper Professor Conducting His Ornithology Class (The Universitys First) By Streetcar To Lake Harriet For A Morning Of Birdwatching. The Students Were Mostly Young Womenin Sunhats, Sailor Tops, And Long Skirts, With Binoculars Strung Around Their Necks. The Professor Was Thomas Sadler Roberts (18581946), A Doctor For Three Decades, A Bird Lover Virtually From Birth, The Father Of Minnesota Ornithology, And The Man Who, Perhaps More Than Any Other, Promoted The Study Of The States Natural History. A Love Affair With Birds Is The First Full Biography Of This Key Figure In Minnesotas Past.Roberts Came To Minnesota As A Boy And Began Keeping Detailed Accounts Of Minneapoliss Birds. These Journals, Which Became The Basis For His Landmark Work The Birds Of Minnesota, Also Inform This Book, Affording A View Of The States Rich Avian Life In Its Early Daysand Of A Young Man Whose Passion For Birds And Practice Of Medicine In A Young Minneapolis Eventually Dovetailed In His Launching Of The Beloved Bell Museum Of Natural History.Bird Enthusiast, Doctor, Author, Curator, Educator, Conservationist: Every Chapter In Robertss Life Is Also A Chapter In The States History, And In His Story Acclaimed Author Sue Leafan Avid Bird Enthusiast And Nature Lover Herselfcaptures A True Minnesota Character And His Time.