I have at least three high-profile animal welfare advocates looking over my manuscript to see if they will either endorse, review or write a blurb for it for the cover, back cover or inside leading pages. One of them, if he commits, will blow you right out of the water! Keep reading...
I'm getting feedback... no suggestions, yet, for additional information... so it looks like the book is pretty much a done deal. The readers have found upwards of eight corrections--most of them just typos--and most of them were found by all who have read the manuscript. But Sandy King and David Sol found a few no one else spotted, so they get the Eagle Eye Award for best spotters!
Tippi Hedren (Shambala/The Roar Foundation angel) is reading the book this week. Deaken lived with her for 15 months, so she's intrigued.
Vernon Weir (with the American Sanctuary Association) has it, too, as does Adam Roberts of Born Free USA (formerly the Animal Protection Institute, where I worked from 1981-1985).
David Sol, an animal welfare advocate,wildlife educator, and tiger dad, is reading it. Lion dad Edward E. Smith has read it.
I've just emailed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (!!!!) to see if he will agree to read and endorse, review or write a blurb for it. He's my "kindred Kennedy" of the bunch (after his dad; I adored him, too)--we've both been "animal crazy" almost since infancy.
RFK Jr. doesn't know me (yet) but I've known about him since his father ran for the Presidency in 1968. Bobby Jr. was traipsing around the Kennedy compound with coati mundis, dogs Brumus and Freckles and, later, as a young man, he became a falconer. If he would run for President, I would support him. He is very passionate about the environment and making the world a safer place for people and animals. Plus he's just plain brilliant. I doubt he'll ever run--it seems the Kennedys are getting out of the political realm altogether--but I would be deleriously happy if he would. (Not a chance, probably.) After Obama's second term ends, we need someone who will return us to some semblance of sanity where the environment and animals are concerned.
I've just read "DOMINION: The Power of Man, The Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy" by Matthew Scully (former speechwriter to George W Bush, oddly enough, but I totally forgive him that "sin," after reading this amazing book!). DOMINION was recommended to me by David Sol. Scully's book uses a lot of heavy duty, multi-syllabic language (ten dollar words where two dollar words would suffice quite nicely) so it's quite the slog, but worth every step.
Now I'm in the middle of another book David Sol recommended, "The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival," by John Vaillant. This one is about the Siberian (Amur) tiger in Russia. Vaillant is a true story teller (not an academic like Scully). It's a riveting tale from start to finish.
Both books are well worth your time, if you want to read them. Just be forewarned: you'll want to become a vegetarian after reading Scully's book. We've never, in our history as a species, treated our livestock as badly as we do in this day and age... and it is an absolute horror to read about it... especially if you've ever known a calf, a steer, a pig, or a chicken in real life. I wept. And I'm equally guilty of being a consumer of their flesh. (Well, never veal calves, and rarely pigs... but eggs and chickens, and cattle, yes.)
We need to get back to basics and allow the animals we use for food to have lives that include sunshine, exercise and other "creature comforts" before we turn them into whatever we put on our plates. I really need to re-think my diet, too. If I can't find 100% free range products, I need to say, "No, thank you" altogether...
Ethically, morally, I just can't turn my head and pretend these things aren't happening to sentient fellow creatures who fear, hurt and wish to avoid pain and anxiety as much as I do...all for my plate! It's just not right.
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Great thanks to Sue Morgan for this link. If you want to eat animals that are not factory-farmed, check it out: http://www.eatwild.com/
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