Count Emanuel Wolff Zaborofsky is a little puppet who Robert created in 1976.  He is like an imaginary member of the extended family: a traveling companion, a goodwill ambassador, a joke.  But he has logged many miles and made his appearances in very distant locales. 

   When not at home sitting on a shelf in Robert's workshop, he lives contentedly in a suitcase or camera bag, waiting to make his presence known at any moment.  Perhaps it is his sunny disposition and his aristocratic, though silly, bearing that have helped him make so many friends  Though unmistakably a puppet, he is quite real to many.

   At left, he stands guard on the Great Wall of China.  At right, he has made himself at home in Almonte, Ontario, in the statue of James Naimsmith, the inventor of basketball.