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112:, for almost 40 years. Walk participants paid a small fee, which started at $ 3 and eventually rose to $ 8. Saphir called the park her "office", but was determined to keep costs low and barely made enough to eke by. Her walks could attract more than 20 people, including repeat patrons, at least one of whom regularly attended for more than 20 years. She would guide people, holding
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sections of the park on outings that could last five hours. She was interested in keeping track of lists and numbers, and would often aim for specific numbers of species on her walks, extending their length or deciding to end in order to leave with a round number. People on her walks were expected to
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She did not have a computer and was concerned that the introduction of technology to the pastime would make it inaccessible for some. She did come to use a cell phone to share sightings while out in the park, but otherwise used notebooks to track her sightings. She left 80 such books when she died,
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Saphir was married twice, first to
Michael Henisse and later to Stephen Gussman, from whom she was separated when she died, and she had two daughters, Shawna Leigh and Lara Willis. In 2002, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and told it would be terminal, which led her to turn to birding and the
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as her "spark bird", or bird species which triggers a broader interest in birds or birding. She saw it when she was six years old, on the side of the road when her father's car broke down on a trip to her grandparents' house, and recognized it from looking through her grandmother's
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walk did not have a leader. She discovered that she liked teaching and wound up leading them regularly, usually four times per week in
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and other productions. She lived in
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said she had "seemingly supernatural powers of hearing and sight". Though her specialty was birds, she would also teach about
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214:'s March/April 2013 newsletter was a collection of memorials to Saphir from several people in the birding community.
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walks even more. She died of complications due to metastatic breast cancer on
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to birding. Filmmaker
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Saphir developed a reputation for her skills with bird identification by sight and by sound, and the
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Saphir was an avid birder, and offered to lead a walk for the first time in 1975, when a planned
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keep to ethical birding best practices intended to minimize disturbances to the birds.
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Starr Saphir was born Muriel
Theodora Saphir on July 21, 1939. Though she was born on
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She persisted giving regular bird walks despite a range of health issues, including
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Birdwatching In Central Park | Late Night with Conan O'Brien
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illustrations. Other than birding, she was also a fan of the
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tallying 259 different species just in
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494:Pop Culture Happy Hour
36:who led bird walks in
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1240:Duke Ellington Circle
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409:. February 16, 2013.
379:All Things Considered
77:before they moved to
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1602:Birdwatchers
1562:Medical Unit
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1384:103rd Street
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693:Sheep Meadow
689:(historical)
683:(historical)
591:Central Park
547:
525:. Retrieved
519:
509:
497:. Retrieved
493:
483:
472:, retrieved
467:
461:
452:
448:
418:. Retrieved
404:
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377:
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344:
311:. Retrieved
297:
264:. Retrieved
250:
209:
205:
188:
169:
160:
150:
148:
133:
131:
110:Central Park
103:
94:Off-Broadway
83:
47:
38:Central Park
26:Starr Saphir
25:
21:
20:
18:
1612:2013 deaths
1607:1939 births
1557:Jogger case
1552:Conservancy
1379:96th Street
1374:86th Street
1369:81st Street
1364:72nd Street
1313:Transverses
1297:59th Street
1193:SummerStage
1168:The Concert
1072:Lasker Rink
926:The Tempest
646:Harlem Meer
144:dragonflies
140:butterflies
126:North Woods
79:Los Angeles
50:Long Island
1596:Categories
1581:See also:
1014:Blockhouse
854:JosĂ© MartĂ
626:Cedar Hill
218:References
114:binoculars
84:She was a
44:Early life
1519:Pattycake
1514:Pale Male
1211:Transport
1047:The Dairy
918:The Gates
600:Manhattan
415:0140-0460
406:The Times
308:0099-9660
261:0362-4331
192:life list
176:arthritis
172:cataracts
88:major at
81:in 1958.
62:Bay Ridge
1347:stations
1133:Zoo York
1031:Carousel
676:Rat Rock
527:June 16,
499:June 16,
474:June 16,
420:June 16,
385:June 15,
350:June 14,
345:ABA Blog
313:June 14,
266:June 14,
54:Brooklyn
1019:Bridges
994:Arsenal
681:Sawkill
555:YouTube
550:in 2005
165:doyenne
157:O'Brien
118:bandana
100:Birding
86:theater
1345:Subway
1163:Be-Ins
1153:Events
455:(1/2).
413:
306:
259:
122:Ramble
30:birder
1499:Flaco
1494:Barry
950:Maine
750:Balto
445:(PDF)
1335:97th
1330:85th
1325:79th
1320:66th
1077:Mall
948:USS
529:2022
501:2022
476:2022
422:2022
411:ISSN
387:2022
352:2022
315:2022
304:ISSN
268:2022
257:ISSN
210:The
180:limp
178:, a
142:and
124:and
1504:Gus
1123:Zoo
1024:Bow
553:on
32:in
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