Philip Brandt George

Philip George grew up in Salina, Kansas with his two older brothers, Gene and Gerald.  He enjoyed summers on his grandparents’ farm, and was a member of the first integrated group of scouts from Salina to canoe the Canadian Boundary Waters.

After graduating with a degree in Cultural Anthropology from Kansas University, he married Martha Ellen Reichard. (He asked her to marry him after knowing her for three whole weeks.) A week after their wedding in Mayfield, Michigan, they headed to Nueva Concepcion, El Salvador as Peace Corps volunteers. There, he promoted sanitation for a rural health clinic, worked with the agricultural cooperative to help farmers improve their yields, and facilitated the building of a two-room, adobe, school house.

Upon returning to the United States, he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. candidacy in Folklore at Indiana University.  During this time, he and Martha had two children–Christopher and Alexandra–whom he’d lull to sleep strumming guitar and singing a Hobo’s Lullaby.

As a graduate student, Phil taught.  His thirst for knowledge and his desire to share it continued throughout his life.

After working for the Folklore Institute and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, Phil became a researcher for Time-Life Books.  He worked for the next 20+ years generating what one of his co-workers described as “immaculate pop history”–history that was factually correct and clearly communicated.  He delved deeply into topics such as ancient civilizations, seafaring, natural history, the Civil War and World War II.  His final project there was editing the fourteen-volume, 40^th Anniversary, illustrated edition of Shelby Foote: The Civil War: A Narrative.

When Time-Life Books folded, he continued to work in publishing as an editor at American History magazine and an instructional designer at K12.

Outside of his professional life, Phil would pursue his personal interests in depth.  He became a prolific photographer focusing particularly on patterns in nature, and light and shadow in architecture.  His photos serve to capture his perspective on the world as he traveled through places such as Spain, Italy, Costa Rica, Iceland, and Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands.

Phil was an avid birder.  He participated in bird counts and hawk watches.  He became a Master Naturalist and volunteered at a local wetland–leading walks and setting up his scope to share sightings with others.  At the Raptor Conservancy, he assisted in the rehabilitation of hawks and owls among other species.

He was a devoted father–playing an active role in his children’s lives–always available, interested, and supportive.  He was a loving “Gramps” to his grandson Logan Michael Stultz.

Martha lovingly cared for him through his year-and-a-half-long battle with bile-duct cancer. She and their children were with him when he passed away at home around midnight on October 28th.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.