Guest book review by Gene Helfman. “. . . are such rare, extraordinary kinships valuable because they remind us of a continuity with living creatures that we easily forget?” Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief (turned into an Oscar-winning movie starring Meryl Streep) and The Library Book (a must read for any bibliophile), titled her latest book On Animals when …
In 2016, we began compiling lists of the best books we read that year (new or old, it didn’t matter). And now here we are in 2021, and we’ve got another wonderful list of the best environmental books we’ve read this year. These may not be the books you’ll find in the top lists of …
Perhaps it is human nature to rank things. We rank cities and states and countries. We have the best restaurants and best movies; we even have best friends. And when it comes to our relationships with animals we share this planet with, there is a fair amount of ranking there as well, with the human …
Beyond the Human Realm, A Novel by Gene Helfman (Luminare Press, July, 2021 Review by JoeAnn Hart It’s not an easy feat to write in an animal POV without the voice seeming weird or childish, but Gene Helfman pulls it off. Do I want to read an entire novel in an orca POV? Probably not. …
Set on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi in the span of the twelve days before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina makes landfall, Salvage the Bones is the story of 14-year-old Esch and her family, who live on the outskirts of the fictional town of Bois Sauvage on a patch of land they call the “Pit.” …
The stories and essays of Touching Creatures, Touching Spirit: Living in a Sentient World form a beautiful tapestry of communications across species and consciousness. From grateful dragonflies to fatherless strawberries to companionable stones, poet and activist Judy Grahn details meaningful connections from her own experiences of the sentient world. Throughout her firsthand accounts, she weaves in histories …
A chance encounter. Fate. Serendipity. Call it what you will, it’s that moment that propels one’s life in a wildly unexpected direction. And the person is all the better for it. For CBS News correspondent Martha Teichner, the chance encounter that would change her life occurred early Saturday morning July 23, 2016, at the Union …
In the first chapter of Animal Resistance in the Global Capitalist Era, Sarat Colling tells the story of Emily, possibly the most famous cow to have escaped a slaughterhouse. It was 1995 and Emily was being led to her death when she hopped over a five-foot high gate near the killing floor and disappeared into …
I’m pleased to announce a rather unique program to be taught next month by myself and Midge Raymond. I hope you can join us… Writing for Animals is a four-week writing program designed to help writers become more effective advocates for animals. Using the book Writing for Animals as a text, we’ll examine the ways in which …
