Remembering Dr. Oliver Sacks

Posted in People on September 3 2015, by Debbie Becker

Debbie Becker has been The New York Botanical Garden’s resident bird expert for over 25 years, and continues to lead her popular Bird Walks on Saturday mornings throughout much of the year. She maintains Birding Around NYC, where readers can find photo galleries of recent NYBG bird walks and up-to-date lists of species seen during each outing.

Dr. Oliver Sacks loved The New York Botanical Garden. I know this because I walked the Garden’s paths with him.

In the early to mid 1980s, Dr. Sacks would enter the garden early in the morning, before the public would arrive, to take in the sights. I would also arrive at NYBG early—to bird watch before my first class at Fordham University—and we would be the only two people walking about.

It was inevitable that one day we would bump into each other. I had no idea who he was, at first, but he was very gracious when he asked me what I was doing, peering up into the trees with my binoculars. His curiosity piqued when I explained that I was bird watching and the Garden was a perfect oasis for finding birds. He launched into a speech on the behavior of birds and their pollination habits along with the symbiotic relationship they shared with specific trees and shrubs. I was an environmental science major and was truly fascinated with all the knowledge he had to share.

He knew the forest. He knew the trees that blew in the wind, creaking and moaning under the boughs’ weight. He knew the shrubs and bushes and the berries they bore. He knew the flowers and admired many for their behavior of attracting pollinators with color and scent. He knew an awful lot about many things.

I thought Dr. Oliver Sacks was a vision. I would look for him daily, scouting out his white beard and familiar walk down Magnolia Way. I think, at times, he entered from the old Allerton Avenue entrance where you could just walk down Snake Hill into Rose Hill, where the benches were surrounded by red roses. I would often sit with him on those benches, the bees buzzing around us, and he would talk about the relationships in nature and how fantastic they are. He truly marveled at everything around him. At times I would find him with a companion and would join him and his friend as he walked the paths of NYBG, rambling on about this and that and things I didn’t understand at the time—but it was truly fascinating just to listen to him speak.

Dr. Oliver Sacks was a great man; it may have been his wonderful mind which bore the wisdom of the ages, his gentle but firm manner, or just the absolute love we both shared for The New York Botanical Garden.

When film crews were shooting Awakenings at Orchard Beach, Dr. Sacks invited me to go along and watch the actors. He introduced me to Robin Williams, who was playing Dr. Sacks in the movie. It was a thrill for me to meet “Mork” and a bigger thrill to be with Dr. Sacks at a new location. He was immersed in the making of the film and I could see how dedicated he was to every detail and to its accuracy.

I will always remember Dr. Oliver Sacks at The New York Botanical Garden and all the wonder in his eyes. It seemed to me that the specialness of NYBG really brought out a sparkle in him, and he found a magic tranquility walking the paths of the forest, inhaling the fragrance of the flowers, and finding peace in the blowing of the wind through the trees.