Died September 1995 Aunt Katherine Emmons Force | Parents Madeleine Astor | |
Books Other Edens: The Sketchbook of an Artist Naturalist Grandparents Katherine Arvilla Talmage, William Hurlbut Force Similar Madeleine Astor, John Jacob Astor VI, Katherine Emmons Force, Ava Alice Muriel Astor, William Backhouse Astor Jr | ||
John Henry Dick (12 May 1919 - September 1995) was an American naturalist and wildlife artist who specialized in birds.
John's father was William Karl Dick (1888-1953) and his mother was Madeleine Talmage Force. His mother survived the Titanic disaster in which her first husband John Jacob Astor IV died. Born in Islip, he grew up in Manhattan and frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History. He studied at the Yale Art School and joined the Air Force during the World War II visiting the South Pacific Islands. When the war came to an end he was on Iwo Jima.
He inherited Dixie Plantation in Charleston County near Meggett from his mother and lived there from 1947 until his death. The estate beside the Stono River had a variety of habitats on 900 acres where he encouraged birds. Apart from bird art, he also took an interest in photography. He lectured at the Charleston Natural History Society and travelled around the world to observe birds.
John Henry Dick illustrated numerous books on birds including South Carolina Bird Life (1949), Florida Birdlife (1954), The Warblers of America (1957), A Gathering of Shore Birds (1960), Carolina Lowcountry Impressions (1964), A pictorial guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent (1983) and The Birds of China (1984). He also published an illustrated autobiographical book in 1979 titled Other Edens: The Sketchbook of an Artist Naturalist which won a national conservation award from the Garden Club of America in 1984.
He turned blind towards the end of his life and died in September 1995. He bequeathed his estate to the College of Charleston.