NOVEMBER 2023
Photo from my travels: Grazer, the Alaskan brown bear who won Fat Bear Week this year, sitting in the part of Brooks Falls known as “the Jacuzzi.” Katmai National Park, Alaska
Photo by Alice Henderson
LATEST PUBLISHING NEWS
TWO EVENTS FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
I’m thrilled to be participating in two events through the University of Northern British Columbia. Both events are virtual and open to the public.
On Thursday, November 23, from 7 – 8 pm Pacific Time, I’ll be giving an author talk about using fiction to shed light on conservation and about my path to publication.
On Friday, November 24, from 3:30 – 4:30 pm PT, I’m very honored to be on a panel addressing different approaches to caribou conservation. West Moberley First Nations Chief Roland Willson and WMFN Elder Diane Desjarlais will discuss WMFN and Saulteau First Nations efforts to bring the Klinse-Za Caribou herd back from the edge of extinction, while creating new protected areas. Dr. Libby Ehlers will discuss the role of the ecologist in supporting conservation, and I’ll be talking about using fiction to raise public awareness.
Please join us!
Here is the Zoom link for the author talk on Thursday, Nov 23 from 7-8 pm Pacific Time: link
And here is the Zoom link for the panel on Friday at 3:30 – 4:30 pm Pacific Time: link. Passcode is 067643.
NEW FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDITION
I’m pleased to say that a new foreign language edition of my work is appearing! It’s always so neat to see a foreign language edition of a novel.
The German translation of A Ghost of Caribou, titled Still, will be out on November 21, 2023.
I’m so honored to say that over the years my fiction has been translated into German, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, and Russian.
A GHOST OF CARIBOU HARDCOVER ON SALE!
Right now you can get the gorgeous hardcover edition of A Ghost of Caribou for 50% off on Amazon.com. It is also available as an ebook and an audiobook.
You can order A Ghost of Caribou from a variety of sites:
WILDLIFE IN THE NEWS
FEDERAL BIRD-SAFE BUILDINGS ACT OF 2023
Did you know that a staggering number of birds are killed by colliding with building glass? Current estimates range from 300 million to a billion deaths each year.
But this can be prevented by using bird-friendly building materials. Right now the Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2023 has been introduced in Congress. It would promote bird-friendly practices for federal buildings.
You can read more about the Act (H.R.3781) here.
The bill is bipartisan and cost-neutral. You can urge your representative to cosponsor and support the Bird-Safe Buildings Act by using this easy form on the Audubon Society website.
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
LOGGERHEAD TURTLES
Loggerhead turtles are amazing, some migrating more than 7500 miles between beaches where they lay their eggs. They can weigh as much as 400 pounds and grow to be four feet in length.
But unfortunately, those migrations bring them into contact with countless fishing nets and longline hooks, endangering their lives. These commercial fishing endeavors intending to catch tuna and other fish also host a staggering number of incidental bycatches, including sea turtles, birds, marine mammals, sharks, and more. Fishing outfits can fit their nets with turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, but many do not.
Loggerheads are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, but are under continual threat due to oil and gas development, climate change effects like sea level rise inundating their nesting beaches, bycatch in fishing lines, and tourism development.
To read more about them and what you can do to help, see this informative page.
INTERESTING WILDLIFE FACT
WHALES HAVE HIP BONES
You wouldn’t picture a whale having hip bones, yet they do! Their hips are a vestigial feature from when whales lived on land forty-nine million years ago and walked on four legs.
One ancient land-walking whale, Ambulocetus natans, was about twelve feet long and weighed as much as 400 pounds, with a tremendous, toothed skull.
You can read more about Ambulocetus on this page from the American Museum of Natural History.
Photo by Todd Cravens on Unsplash
GREEN TIP
AVOIDING BOTTLED WATER
Bottled water creates enormous amounts of plastic waste. It leads to 1.5 million tons of waste and requires 47 million gallons of oil to produce per year. And the vast majority of bottles are simply thrown away rather than recycled. In addition, bottled water isn’t a good value for your money and leads to the corporatization of water.
The U.S. has some of the cleanest tap water on the planet, so if you’re lucky enough to live in a place with safe tap water, consider purchasing a reusable bottle and fill it with your local tapwater instead of buying bottled water.
If you don’t like the taste of your local tap water, you can buy a filter and chill the water in the refrigerator. You’ll be saving money and being more conscientious.
You can read more about why bottled water is unnecessary here.
Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
BEACH AND RIVER CLEANUPS
Speaking of plastic trash, you can help with this problem, intercepting trash before it gets into our oceans and rivers.
Plastic litter can pile up on beaches and riverbanks from regular visitor use, but also during holiday celebrations such as the Fourth of July, New Year’s Eve, and other times of the year.
This helpful site lists lake and river cleanups you can participate in.
And if there are no scheduled cleanups in your area, considering hosting your own river or beach cleanup.
This site offers a useful guide on how to organize beach cleanups.
And this page offers insights and tools for hosting a river cleanup.
In addition, you can use the Litterati app to map problematic areas where you are finding litter along our nation’s rivers. You can upload photos, arrange a cleanup, and even get your community involved.
Photo by Taylor R on Unsplash
EXPLORE THE WORLD
WHO’S YEHOODI?
I love old time radio from the 1930s-1940s — tales of detectives, suspense, horror, science fiction, comedy. There is pure gold to be discovered in these wonderful radio plays.
I love music from this era, too. One of my favorite songs from the 1940s is “Who’s Yehoodi?” by Kay Kyser. It never ceases to crack me up. You can listen to the song here. It references a number of radio shows that I didn’t recognize, so I dived in to find out.
Some references were obvious — The Lone Ranger, for one — but others I wasn’t familiar with.
One reference is to Baby Snooks, a radio show about an endlessly-questioning, mischievous little girl who pulled pranks.
Professor Quiz, also mentioned in the song, was a quiz show that ran from 1936-1948. Audience members competed for cash, and listeners could write in with questions and win prizes if their questions were used.
Al Pearce is in reference to the Al Pearce Show about a shy, quietly speaking door-to-door salesman who often hoped no one would be home when he knocked on potential customers’ doors.
And finally — perhaps my favorite reference — one line refers to “The Little Man Who Wasn’t There,” a song based on a poem about a famous haunted house in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. You can read about the haunting here.
If you’re interested in listening to some old time radio, a whole host of wonderful shows can be found on the nonprofit site archive.org, researched by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group.
And who is Yehoodi? Well, he was a violinist with a very cool name — Yehudi Menuhin.
Photo by Muhammed ÖÇAL on Unsplash
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Copyright © 2023 by Alice Henderson. All rights reserved.
