Daniel Crowley; Professor, World Traveler

Daniel Crowley, 76, professor, world traveler and bon vivant. Born in Peoria, Ill., Crowley devoted himself to traveling to Mardi Gras carnivals, festivals and parties around the world. Undaunted when polio paralyzed him during Navy service in World War II, he used the GI Bill to earn a master’s degree in art history at Bradley University and a doctorate in anthropology from Northwestern University. He became an expert on the arts and culture of Africa and taught at UC Davis for several decades. Requiring somebody to push his wheelchair, he organized innovative foreign field trips to study folk celebrations and enjoy exotic food and drink. Although he had limited use of his arms and could type with only one finger, he wrote several papers and books, including “Creativity in Bahamian Folklore.” Crowley earned recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records as “the most traveled disabled person.” On Feb. 24 in Oruro, Bolivia, of a heart attack.