Dr. Bertel Bruun Dies At 73

Dr. Bertel Bruun

Dr. Bertel Bruun, an author of best-selling bird books, international conservationist, and neurologist, died at home in Remsenburg on Wednesday, September 21. He was 73.

Mr. Bruun gained early fame in the world of wildlife enthusiasts as the co-author of “The Golden Field Guide to Birds of North America” first published in 1966. A young amateur Danish ornithologist at the time, he designed an easy-to-follow format placing illustrations, maps and written descriptions in a single location that transformed the experience of birdwatchers who no longer had to thumb through different sections of their field guide in a frantic effort to identify birds before they flew away.

Mr. Bruun was matched up with better known co-authors, Chandler Robbins and Herbert Zim, and illustrator Arthur Singer. Their efforts resulted in the best selling bird field guide in the U.S. for many years. It was the first of many books Mr. Bruun did, including “The Hamlyn Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe.” Partnered with Arthur Singer again, the book was a best-seller in Europe in the 1970s.

He later became very involved in conservation efforts, most especially in the Middle East, where he served as a liaison between Israel and Egypt to promote the preservation of wildlife in the Sinai Peninsula when the region was handed back to Egypt after the 1978 Camp David peace accord.

Mr. Bruun was born in Skaelskor, Denmark, on November 13, 1937, the son of Erik Valdemar Marie Andre Ley Bruun and Ebba Kirstine Poulsen.

He grew up in the Danish fishing village intending to follow his own father’s career as a village doctor. He completed his undergraduate studies and medical school at the University of Copenhagen, but then moved to New York City to do his internship at Lenox Hill Hospital and residency at the Neurological Institute at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. He became a neurologist working out of Lenox Hill, Columbia Presbyterian and Harlem Hospital. In the early 1970s he conducted research on the neurological impact of heroin on the human brain. This led to a very brief stint as medical director of the first heroin treatment facility for children in New York City, an ad hoc effort put together by mothers of heroin victims fed up by the city’s inaction in helping them take care of their addicted children. He later ran the strike clinic at Harlem Hospital.

Mr. Bruun’s work as an ornithologist coincided with his medical career. He went birding on weekends and vacations, often working in his study to late hours researching on his books. He wrote more than 15 books including two prize-winning children’s books— “The Human Body” and “The Brain”— with his wife Dr. Ruth Bruun. He also co-wrote “Common Birds of Egypt,” the only field guide to birds in that country.

Mr. Bruun’s interest in birds evolved into a passion to use the conservation of wildlife as a bridge for helping advance peace. In the 1970s Mr. Bruun became president of the Holy Land Conservation Fund, a non-profit organization based in Manhattan that was set up to help support wildlife preservation efforts in Israel. Mr. Bruun sought to expand the work in Israel to the fuller mission of advancing conservation in the Middle East. Birding moved from being a benign activity to a hazardous duty. In 1978 he was in Tehran when the Shah of Iran was overthrown, leaving the country shortly before his downfall in an armored personnel carrier. Shortly afterwards, while helping to advance peace between Israel and Egypt, he survived an assassination attempt while working with the Egyptian government to establish ministries to protect wildlife in the Sinai Desert.

“I know this is dangerous,” Mr. Bruun wrote in a journal at the time, “but if I can help keep my boys from having to be in a war then it will be worthwhile.” Having grown up in occupied Denmark during World War II, he placed a high value on peace, although he was not a pacifist. He took a special pride in the fact that his oldest brother and father were active members of the Danish Resistance.

Mr. Bruun retired as a neurologist in 1989 and moved to Westhampton after suffering a series of stokes. He started a small company called March of Time, trading antique toy soldiers in Europe and the U.S. He wrote in 1994 the “Toy Soldiers Identification and Price Guide,” considered a definitive guide foe the collector category.

Concerned about the runaway construction of houses in wetland areas, he ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for a Trustee seat in the Town of Southampton.

Mr. Bruun is survived by his wife of 41 years, Ruth Bruun; his sons, Erik Bruun of Massachusetts and Peter Bruun of Maryland, from a previous marriage with the former Barbara Leventhal; and Christian Bruun of Remsenburg; step-children, Timothy Newman of West Virginia, Thomas Newman of Manhattan and Isabel Blackburn of Massachusetts; and 15 grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Beach United Methodist Church in Westhampton Beach on October 16, at 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.