Monday February 28, 2005 at 7:00 pm at Many Voices Bookseller and Coffeeshop in Lindstrom    Map

William Souder Returns with His Newest Book
"Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of the The Birds of America"

William Souder will make a return visit to Many Voices bookstore in Lindstrom, on Monday evening, February 28. Last March, the nationally acclaimed writer visited with his book A Plague of Frogs. This upcoming visit will feature his newest book on the life and work of John James Audubon. This event is free and open to the public and promises to be an evening you won’t want to miss.

Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of the The Birds of America
by William Souder

A Book Review by Tom Anderson

Washington County author William Souder has turned out one of the best surprises I have read in some time.

I love history and I love the natural world and when someone with Souder's investigative skills blends the two together as well as he does, it is a winner.

Not only do I get an intimate look at Audubon's life but also I learn how Audubon's appearance on the scene was a huge shift in the study of natural history. Prior to Audubon, Old World scientists, naturalists and artists delivered the bulk of the interpretation of the New World natural history. He was the first great homegrown (New World) naturalist.

Of particular interest is the story of the giant, "double-elephant portfolio" sized prints he created. Not only were they large renditions of New World birds, but he placed the birds in their natural habitats assuming a posture that would be typical behavior of the bird.

Souder's description of Audubon's three-day encounter with a giant flock of passing passenger pigeons is nothing short of astonishing. He estimated the flock to number 25 billion birds. I couldn't help but recall a simple journal entry scribed in May of 1861, by Morgan May (early settler who lived about 1/2 mile east of the Warner Nature Center, who later became the namesake to May's Lake and May Township). In sparse detail he wrote, "Vast numbers of pigeons in the fields. I don't know what to do." Of course he was referring to the immense numbers of passenger pigeons that were likely feeding on the emerging crops. Amazingly, the last noted observation of a wild passenger pigeon in Minnesota was observed in 1895.

Though one often equates John James Audubon as a "bird guy," this book shows the many layers of this very talented observer. Like Souder's first book, A Plague of Frogs, this book is a wonderful read that is rich in detail, not unlike Audubon's Birds of America.

Tom Anderson is a veteran naturalist and Director of the Warner Nature Center, an environmental facility associated with the Science Museum of Minnesota.