 In spite of suffering a stroke in the 1990s, Johnsgard writes and photographs at a dizzying pace. Photo by Joel Sartore.
One secret of Paul Johnsgard’s prolific career may be that he
never outgrew his boyhood enthusiasms. At age five, he began
sketching birds and other wildlife. A few years later he began
carving neckerchief slides in the form of ducks, geese, and swans.
At 16, he sold his shotgun and used the proceeds to buy a camera he
could use to photograph the waterfowl he loved so much.
Writing came a bit later. As an undergraduate at North Dakota
Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University), he
entered a competition to write a field guide to the state’s
waterfowl. In addition to writing descriptions of the birds and
their habits, Johnsgard provided drawings of all the species at
rest and in flight. He won the $25 prize and the confidence that he
could write and draw well enough for publication. He never needed
another boost.
Johnsgard cheerfully acknowledges he’s compulsive about
capturing whatever he experiences regarding birds. He says he long
since decided to make the most of his compulsion, rather than
worrying about it. Even illness didn’t slow him down much. The day
Johnsgard got out of the hospital after his 1985 heart attack, he
started his most ambitious carving, a life-size swan in flight that
took him a year to finish.
He continued to draw and carve until a stroke in the late 90s
hampered fine control of his left hand; and he still writes and
photographs at a dizzying pace. He counts his ability to illustrate
as his main strength as an author. “It’s a benefit not to have to
rely on others,” he says. One suspects that few collaborators could
keep up with him.
While most of his drawings and photographs were done in
conjunction with a writing project, Johnsgard’s carvings were made
for fun and art—and compulsion again. He made most of his life-size
wooden sculptures of waterfowl, raptors, and others during the
blustery Nebraska winters, when his restless hands and mind needed
something to do.
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