Instead, once I began reading, I couldn’t stop. Paul wrote about his first-grade teacher who kept a stuffed and mounted male red-winged blackbird in a glass Victorian bell jar. She invited him to examine the bird, up close and personal. That experience helped fuel his desire to learn more about birds — and eventually led to a career in ornithology.

Paul also wrote about traveling with his newly married wife from California to New York State in 1956 where he had been selected to attend graduate school at Cornell University. They purchased an old Ford sedan — without a functional first gear — for $25, along with a two-wheeled trailer for $30. When they encountered some steep hills near Dubuque, Iowa, they had to ascend the hills in reverse gear.

Paul’s introduction to Nebraska came after he accepted a job at the university in 1961, completely sight-unseen. He advanced from an instructor in the Zoology Department to an assistant professor to full tenure in only one year.

His introduction to sandhill cranes came in 1962 when a graduate student told him about viewing opportunities in central Nebraska. Paul took his class to Grand Island and Elm Creek. He writes in his biography, “I was soon astounded by the sight of thousands of cranes in the meadows along the river.”