Union Ave book signing

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Help me celebrate being in Audubon magazine. (The same issue has an interview with Steve Martin. So perhaps the issue is laying on Steverino's coffee table right now.) What a thrill! Perhaps, he's even using it as a coaster. Nah. Steve doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who would tolerate unsightly rings on his magazine covers. (Stephen Glenn, Stephen Lyn. Notice the similarities? Two wild and crazy guys. Well, Steve is actually wild and crazy. I'm sort of mild and hazy like the weather forecast.) 


Join me at Union Ave Books. I'll be talking about Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Ivorybill: the book about ghostly birds is a fitting topic for October—movie rights are still available Steve; Jim Tanner went prematurely gray as well—and other lost birds plus signing my books about such naturey things this Friday from 6 to 8 PM. Stop by and say hello. If Steve happens to be at your house, bring him along. 

Union Ave Books is located at 517 Union Avenue in downtown Knoxville. For more information, call 865-951-2180.


Thanks, Flossie!

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Audubon book review

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 The Long Goodbye

A new book traces one ornithologist's quixotic efforts to study and preserve the ivory-billed woodpecker

By Frank Graham Jr.

"They called and acted nervously when I approached," James Tanner writes of the ivory-billed woodpecker in his 400-plus-page travel journal in 1937. "Male whammed on stub two inches long, then flew a short distance, whammed and bammed. Female worked on a dead hackberry stub 25 feet high, 18 inches in diameter, mostly skinned and showed many [beetle] engraver burrows."

Tanner's journal is the chief source, the very substance, of the saddest book I have ever read about birds. Ghost Birds resembles the recollections and musings of a man at the bedside of a friend struggling against a fatal illness... fascinating in its detail of the day-to-day existence of the last known group of these magnificent birds, the book also records a dogged scientist's frustrating search through southern swamps for other ivory-bills."

For the rest of Frank Graham Jr.'s essay/review about my latest book Ghost Birds  that appears in the September/October issue of Audubon magazine click: Long Goodbye.

where are my books?

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Being an author is an odd odd sort of avocation. You spend years and years, working in private: researching, reading, thinking, scribbling, marking through and scribbling yet again. And then, somehow, your babies are born. You often find yourself wondering: Where do they go? Have they found a good home? Or are they languishing in a used bookstore? Or, God forbid, aremainder bin, sold for 50 cents a pound. (An author's nightmare.)

To that end, if you have a copy of one of my books, send me a photo and sate my curiosity.

To that end: one of my books has made it across the big pond to the UK!

Recently I heard from Ed Smith. He sent me a photo of his sister Dn Beverly Smith Dougall who lives in London, England.

Ghost Birds interested both of them. Ed and Dn Beverly actually grew up in the Tensas region of northeast Louisiana where much of the story takes place.

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ghostly evening

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Ghost bird appears at Ijams Nature Center!

The highly acclaimed documentary Ghost Bird will be shown at Ijams Nature Center on Saturday, February 12 at 4 p.m.

Filmmaker Scott Crocker has turned the saga of the ivory-billed woodpecker into witty, wistful story that is fascinating to practically everyone. It’s been called a “cosmic lament for the forest primeval and man’s search for environmental redemption.

Is the Ghost Bird extinct or not? That is the question that remains unanswered.

I will also on hand with Nancy Tanner selling and signing copies of our book “Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-bill.”

I'll briefly discuss the differences between our book Ghost Birds (plural) and the film Ghost Bird (singular), similar names but each represent a different part of the ivory-bill story.

Admission for the movie is $5, but seating is limited, to reserve a chair (white with blue cushion) call 577-4717, ext. 10.

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where are my books?

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Being an author is an odd sort of avocation. You spend years and years, working in private: researching, reading, thinking, scribbling, marking through and scribbling yet again. And then, somehow, your babies are born. You often find yourself wondering: Where do they go? Have they found a good home? Or are they languishing in a used bookstore? Or, God forbid, a remainder bin, sold for 50 cents a pound. (An author's nightmare.)

To that end, if you have a copy of one of my books, send me a photo and sate my curiosity.

A second book has ended up in Louisiana, albeit may just be passing through. It's in the hands of Dan and Laurie Mooney, fellow KTOSers now traveling across the country, footloose and free of fancy.

Dan writes: "This historical marker is in Addis, La. Addis is just north of Plaquemine on LA 1 and is the plantation where my mother was raised. Her father was the 'overseer' for St. Delphine around 1915. He later became a game warden and was a game warden in the area in the late 1930s when Tanner came through looking for Ivorybills. Do Tanner's notes mention who he talked to at Piere Part? My maternal grandfather's name was Levert Henry Bird but he was called Pete. Just curious."

I'm not sure about an answer to Dan's question, I'll have to dig into Tanner's journal. But here are the Mooneys in Louisiana.

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where are my books?

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Being an author is an odd odd sort of avocation. You spend years and years, working in private: researching, reading, thinking, scribbling, marking through and scribbling yet again. And then, somehow, your babies are born. You often find yourself wondering: Where do they go? Have they found a good home? Or are they languishing in a used bookstore? Or, God forbid, a remainder bin, sold for 50 cents a pound. (An author's nightmare.)

To that end, if you have a copy of one of my books, send me a photo and sate my curiosity.

So much of my book takes place in Louisiana, it's nice to know that one of them will be living there. It's owned by Violet R., who lives in Avoyelles Parish, south of the old Singer Tract.



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Tanner: memoriam

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Special note:

Dr. James T. Tanner, Jim, the protagonist in my book Ghost Birds, passed away on this date 20 years ago:

January 21, 1991.

Jim is still sadly missed, but by none more so than his wife Nancy.

The photo to the left was taken in 1937, in the Singer Tract while Jim was conducted his Cornell/Audubon field research of the ivory-billed woodpecker.


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ghost birds: out of cash

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"Because he was running out of cash, Jim left the swamp and drove west to Fort Myers. During his entire three-year journey through the South, his Audubon grant money was wired to him periodically as he traveled from place to place. On this occasion, however, the money had not arrived at Fort Myers, and Tanner found himself almost broke. He took a part-time job helping refurbish a motor yacht, scrapping barnacles off the hull."


Excerpt from Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1931-1941


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where are my books?

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Being an author is an odd odd sort of avocation. You spend years and years, working in private: researching, reading, thinking, scribbling, marking through and scribbling yet again. Staring into space. Scratching your head. Beating your head against the wall. And then, some how, your babies are born. You often find yourself wondering: Where do they go? Have they found a good home? Or are they languishing in a used bookstore? Or, God forbid, a remainder bin. (An author's nightmare.)

To that end, if you have a copy of one of my books, send me a photo and sate my curiosity.

Here's one that found its way to the Savannah in Tennessee.

Mike Martin from Savannah is a professional forester and has been a member of the Society of American Foresters since 1967. He worked with Dr. Geoff Hill as an information systems coordinator at the Choctawhatchee ivory-bill site and has also visited with Gene Sparling in Arkansas at the scene of the Gallagher/Harrison sighting.

Thanks, Mike.

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where are my books?

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Being an author is an odd odd sort of avocation. You spend years and years, working in private: researching, reading, thinking, scribbling, marking through and scribbling yet again. Comma in, comma out. Paragraph in, paragraph out.

Only your loved ones know the long hours of isolation And then, somehow, the gods smile on you and you finish and deliver your manuscript to the publisher. At that point, it no longer is a private affair, the pace quickens, there's editing, design, proof approvals, scheduling, deadlines, and before too long your books are out there, thousands of them, strewn about like autumn leaves in the wind.

You often find yourself wondering: Where do they go? Have they found a good home? Are they languishing in a used bookstore? (An author's nightmare.)

To that end, if you have a copy of one of my books, send me a photo and sate my curiosity. Here's one that found its way to the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps.



Bill Benish at the subway station very close to his apartment in uptown New York City. (This is very appropriate since in my book, Jim and Nancy Tanner saw the beginning of 1941 come in at Times Square watching the ball drop.)

Thanks, Bill.

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ghost birds: East Carroll Parish

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In Louisiana, north of the Singer Tract: 1938

"After his meal, it began to look like rain, so Jim hustled out to find his car not wanting to get it stuck in the mud yet again. He had just reached the road and the cabin of Fred Williams, when a heavy rain began to fall. Williams invited Tanner into his home until the shower passed, where Jim learned that the old-timer had not seen an ivory-bill in the area in 10 years. His story and the amount of cut over acreage confirmed what Jim was already sensing: if the upper reaches of the Tensas bottomland had once been home to the storied woodpeckers, they were now all gone. "


Excerpt from Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1931-1941


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where are my books?

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Being an author is an odd odd sort of avocation. You spend years and years, working in private: researching, reading, thinking, scribbling, marking through and scribbling yet again. Comma in, comma out. Paragraph in, paragraph out.

Only your loved ones know the long hours of isolation And then, somehow, the gods smile on you and you finish and deliver your manuscript to the publisher. At that point, it no longer is a private affair, the pace quickens, there's editing, design, proof approvals, scheduling, deadlines, and before too long your books are out there, thousands of them, strewn about like autumn leaves in the wind.

You often find yourself wondering: Where do they go? Have they found a good home? Are they languishing in a used bookstore? (An author's nightmare.)

To that end, if you have a copy of one of my books, send me a photo and sate my curiosity. Here's one that found its way to the Empire State.



Mark from Yorktown Heights, New York (This is very appropriate, since Jim Tanner was from New York.)

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book signing

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Saturday, Oct. 30, 2 p.m.

Carpe Librum Booksellers

5113 Kingston Pike

Knoxville, TN

I will be talking about and signing copies of Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935–1941, which features a foreword by Nancy Tanner.

Ghost Birds published by UT Press. For more information about the book go to: Ghost Birds

Cover illustration by the author.

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you're invited

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Thursday, October 21, 6 pm.

Film: You are invited to the Knoxville Museum of Art for a screening of the award-winning documentary Ghost BIRD (singular) by Scott Crocker. The film is about the recent rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas.

Book Launch: Nancy Tanner and I will be at the event signing copies of our new book Ghost BIRDS. (Ours is plural, the titles similarity is coincidental.) Published by UT Press, our book is about the historic fieldwork and search for ivorybills conducted by Nancy's late husband James T. Tanner between 1935 and 1941. So both the film and the book are about the Lord God Bird but ours takes place over 70 years ago.

The event at KMA is co-presented by UT Press and the Tennessee Clean Water Network. For more info go to UT Press.

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bookfest

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Special thanks to Humanities Tennessee, organizers of the 22nd Annual Southern Festival of Books last weekend in Nashville and to my publisher, UT Press.

I was one of the presenting authors: doing my first public talk for my new book Ghost Birds. I met a lot of interesting people including—as you might suspect—many, many book buyers and readers. Plus, a lot of people are absolutely fascinated with the story of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Thanks to all who attended my program.

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ghost birds: woodpeckerness

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"Tanner immediately began a palmetto blind near the tree and settled in to watch the activity, making careful notes of all he saw. Throughout the day, the male and female returned to the tree with food for the young bird. From time to time Jim noted seeing the nestling stick its head out to look around; at times
it would exercise its “woodpeckerness,” using its bill to chip away at the lower edge of the hole, creating a noticeable notch."


Excerpt from Ghost Birds published by UT Press. For more information go to:

Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935-1941

Cover illustration by the author. Book available in the gift shop at Ijams Nature Center.

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ghost birds: four dollar boat

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In Georgia on the Altamaha River:

"After buying a boat from another local woodsman, Jim made his first solo excursion into a southern swamp. His four-dollar purchase was flat-bottomed, narrow, and about fifteen feet long. For the next five days, he floated down the river, searching the section J. J. Brown had described. Using a paddle carved from a board, Tanner worked to stay in the middle of the river."


Excerpt from Ghost Birds. For more information go to:

Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935-1941

Cover illustration by the author.


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ghost birds: kints

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"The swamp played tricks on them, ringing with echoes. Tanner heard the “hooting,” as Sutton beckoned him in his direction. Kuhn had heard a “kint” south of their location, toward Sharkey Road. Both pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers were calling, keeping the searchers on their toes, nerves on edge. J.J. suggested they walk slower, so as to hear any unfamiliar sound."


Excerpt from Ghost Birds. For more information go to:

Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935-1941 

Cover illustration by the author, that would be me. 


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ghost birds: swampers

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"From Louisiana to South Carolina, Jim had met dozens of swampers in the past year. They were good folks, resourceful and helpful if your car was stuck in the mud, but for them money was hard to come by. Mostly they earned a living by gleaning whatever they could from the watery woods. They farmed, hunted, fished, and even poached if they had to. Naturally, their curiosity about the big woodpeckers centered on monetary value."


Excerpt from Ghost Birds. For more information go to:

Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935-1941 Cover illustration by the author.


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ghost birds: Santee Bottoms

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Searching the Santee Bottoms:

“Most of the swamp was about ankle-deep,” Tanner wrote. “The deepest creek I waded was half-way up my thighs. None of the deeper creeks were long. Here and there were low and small ridges, carrying sweet gum, a little laurel oak, etc. Bird life was scarce.”


Excerpt from Ghost Birds to be published this month. For more information go to:

Ghost Birds: Jim Tanner and the Quest for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 1935-1941 Cover illustration by the author.

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