Chapter Twelve

For the past two years, I have attended a special gathering of readers and authors—an annual event that takes place in the small East Texas town of Jefferson. The Pulpwood Queen Book Club and Author Extravaganza is a celebration of books. In 2010, founder Kathy Patrick, invited me to attend the event as a featured author. My first mystery, Murder at the Arlington, had just been released, and Kathy included it as the group’s bonus book for the month of November. The following year, when my second book, Murder at the Luther, came out, I attended again. Not only did I have the opportunity to promote my mystery series, I met dozens of avid, devoted readers, and talented authors. I came away with autograph copies of books by bestselling authors Pat Conroy, Fannie Flagg, and Jamie Ford.

            Since my husband and I were traveling during that time, I sent most of these books to my sister for safekeeping until our wanderlust dissipated and we settled down. That happened five months ago and after finding a place to live, I sent for my box of books. It was like a literary Christmas celebration.

            My bookshelf is filled with books I cherish, books I take down when I want to read my favorite lines, paragraphs, and chapters, books with words so vivid I can taste them. There’s John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meaning with his character description of the housekeeper, Germaine, and F. Scout Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby with narrator Nick Carraway’s description of all the zany people who frequented Gatsby’s perpetual party, and Billy Collin’s Nine Horses, a book containing of some of the best poetry ever written.

            Working my way through all those Pulpwood Queen treasures, I finally picked up Elizabeth Berg’s Home Safe. A New York Times Bestseller, this book is one of the few on my shelf with a bookmark noticeably marking an incredible piece of writing. Chapter twelve describes Helen Ames and her daughter’s train trip from Chicago to Milwaukee. After reading this chapter, I wanted to take this trip, ride on a train pulled by an engine with a friendly face, see the deer in the fields as I rode by, and gaze at the white-faced cliffs along the Mississippi. Since that was not possible, I reread this chapter three times.  

Home Safe (Ballantine Book, 2009) by Elizabeth Berg  - a stunning read.

Endangering the Endangered

Did you know it was legal to kill a bald eagle, a snowy owl, flamingo or any endangered bird? DDT was banned from general use in 1972 because of its effects on humans and wildlife, especially birds. The following year the Endangered Species Act was passed with the intention of protecting species that were on the brink of extinction. For many birds like the ivory-billed woodpecker, it was too late to save the species, but the endangered peregrine falcons, once-endangered bald eagles, and myriad birds have rebounded. The bald eagles were removed from the threatened and endangered list in 2007. However, last year hundreds of bald eagles were poisoned, along with other raptors. Add water birds (exposed to lead not only by ingesting lead shot, but also from lead fishing gear), such as loons, herons, egrets and ibises, to the list and the results are astonishing. What’s more astonishing is that the poison and its presence in our environment is not only legal, but also supported by a strong group of lobbyists.

            In the May-June issue of Audubon magazine, Ted Williams has written an insightful article “Bad Shot” that address the issue of hunters using lead bullets and the effects lead has on wildlife. Williams reports that “hunters can leave up to 400,000 lead shotgun pellets on a single acre of prime upland hunting field in a year.” The result of ingesting lead is a fatal disease called plumbism. Last winter one hundred and seventeen bald eagles were brought in to the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center. All had ingested high levels of lead, the result of which caused the birds to lose their motor skills and eyesight. None recover. By the time, the illness was detected, it was too late to save them.

            Is there a solution? Of course, a simple one. Nontoxic bullets are available, but gun lobbyists claim that nontoxic bullets are too expensive. Williams found that this is simple not true. The cost of lead bullets and shot is comparable to the nontoxic variety.