Anders Schou Saustrup

Anders Schou Saustrup Anders Saustrup of Round Top, Texas, passed away Saturday, February 9, 2008, after 78 years of life in his own, inimitable style. Historian, scholar, naturalist, linguist, teacher, philosopher, researcher, editor, and storyteller, he was a true Renaissance man with a bohemian bent. Born in Holstebro, Denmark, on February 7, 1930 to Sigurd and Elna Saustrup, Anders displayed as a boy the voracious appetite for knowledge and extraordinary memory and recall that would follow him throughout his life. He attended every school within traveling distance, read every book he could get his hands on, and studied Greek and Latin with the local minister in his spare time. His summers were spent as crew on his step-father's freighter in the North Sea. As a young teen he was affected greatly by the 5-year Nazi occupation of Denmark. After studying comparative literature at the University of Aarhus, Anders attended Askov Folkehojskole in 1949-50, where he met and fell in love with visiting student Billie Bess Trenckmann of Austin. The two toured Europe on his Vespa scooter, marrying in Rome in 1952 and later returning to Austin. Anders received his Master's degree in Germanic Studies from the University of Texas in 1956. After studying and teaching at Yale University 1957-58, Anders returned to Austin to teach German at The University until 1975. A gifted linguist, he spoke at least six languages well and dabbled in a handful more. A passionate hobby in botany eventually led to a position as field director of U.T.'s Rare Plant Study Center in the early- and mid-'70s, during which time he conducted the first botanical survey of the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande by raft and canoe. From the '80s on, another hobby in Texas History turned him into one of the foremost experts in field, in particular German immigration to Texas in the 1800s. He served as Senior Editor to the Handbook of Texas, as well as a historical editor to James Michener's book, Texas . In the late '80s, after a long association with the Winedale Historical Center, he moved to a farmhouse in his beloved Round Top, where he lived for the rest of his days, authoring, translating, and researching innumerable historical documents. Along the way Anders cultivated lasting relationships with some of the finest botanists and historians in Texas, and a virtual Who's Who of Texas Democrats in the '50s through the '90s. He took countless camping trips, canoe trips, and field trips of any kind. At the drop of a hat he would drive across the state for a handful of seeds from an endangered shrub or an obscure document from a county courthouse -- stopping at every one-horse town along the way for a beer and a bratwurst or a visit with the local museum curator. He eschewed excessive formality or pretense, and was most at home around a campfire with an old friend, a song, and a cold beer - or else alone with a dusty, old book. Anders is survived by sons Niels, Arne, Steffen, and Paul, and grandchildren Andreas and Mirabella. A campout will be held in his honor the weekend of April 5, contact the family for details. Arrangements by: Koenig & Strickland Funeral Home, La Grange, TX. (979) 968-3121.