Cross served as a naval officer in the
Pacific War of
World War II. After the Navy, he obtained an English degree from
Amherst College and a law degree from
Harvard Law School in 1950. After working as an attorney, Cross became an entrepreneur, investing in publications. Cross worked professionally in the publishing industry. In 1983, he and partners bought ''Investment Dealer's Digest'' and sold it three years later for approximately 40 times the purchase price. He received widespread attention in 1987 for his attempt to acquire
Harper & Row (now
HarperCollins) for a reported $190 million, but was outbid by
Rupert Murdoch. Cross was the founder and editor of
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education and founder of the
Business and Society Review.
E.O. Wilson commented that a photo in
Waterbirds "is a candidate for the most beautiful illustration of birds in existence, photo or painting." Cross was elected to the
American Philosophical Society in 1995. Cross also founded Birders United, a group formed in 2004 to oppose President
George W. Bush's reelection on
habitat destruction grounds, but who later expanded its role to a general political watchdog group for bird habitats. ==Works==