Books by Golden Gate Bird Alliance members
By Ilana DeBare
Golden Gate Bird Alliance members are talented birders… but that’s not their only accomplishment. A number of GGBA members are also authors! So — now that it’s holiday shopping season — we figured it might be nice to spread the word about some of their books.
We’ll start with books related to wildlife and conservation. But after that, as you’ll see, GGBA members have a wide range of interests and knowledge. Consider their books as holiday gifts: If you buy one at your neighborhood independent bookstore, you’ll be supporting both local business and a fellow Audubon member!
Spare the Birds! George Bird Grinnell and the First Audubon Society, by Carolyn Merchant. In 1887, George Bird Grinnell launched Audubon magazine, one of the first efforts to preserve bird species decimated by the women’s hat trade, hunting, and loss of habitat. Carolyn, a professor of environmental history at U.C. Berkeley, tells Grinnell’s story and how, even though his initial organization and magazine lasted only two years, he had a lasting impact. Published this fall by Yale University Press. See http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300215458/spare-birds.
Citizen Science: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction, by Mary Ellen Hannibal. Combining firsthand reporting, research, and memoir, Mary Ellen wades through tide pools and chases hawks with dedicated volunteers seeking to learn about and protect wildlife. You may have heard her talking about Citizen Science on KQED Forum! Published this fall by Workman Publishing. See https://www.workman.com/products/citizen-scientist.
Running Wild, by Elaine Bond Miller. Children’s board book about animals in motion, with Elaine’s great photos of a deer prancing, bobcat prowling, snake slithering, and even a butterfly fluttering in mid-air. Particularly good for children under 4. Published this fall by Berkeley-based Heyday books. See https://heydaybooks.com/book/running-wild/.
Birds of Northern California, by David Quady, Jon Dunn, Kimball Garrett, and Brian Small. This handy, pocket-sized photographic field guide was published in late 2015 and features 400 Northern California species. Co-author Dave Quady is a GGBA birding instructor and a co-compiler of our Oakland Christmas Bird Count, and we have some copies available for sale in our online store or Berkeley office. Click here to read a review of the book that we ran on this blog last year.
Isles of Amnesia, by Mark Rauzon. Mark, a biologist and Laney College professor, has worked for 25 years on eradicating invasive plants and animals from islands in the Pacific. His book, published this year by University of Hawaii Press, gives the ecological and human history of the islands, combined with his personal experiences. We ran a blog post by Mark last March based on his book; or see http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-9517-9780824846794.aspx.
Nests: Fifty Nests and the Birds that Build Them, by Sharon Beals. Sharon’s gorgeous photographs of nests offer a new window onto the life and beauty of birds. Drawn from the collections of the California Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley, and the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, these birds’ nests from around the world offer astonishing insight into the intricate detail wrought by nature’s most fastidious architects. Plus: Sharon just joined the GGBA Board of Directors! Published by Chronicle Books in 2011: See http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/nests.html.
Why We Bird, by David Rice. Longtime GGBA member and field trip leader David Rice organizes a lifetime of observation into insightful short essays on the allure and attraction of birding. Stories include: birding with a friend after he gets dementia; telling a grandson about owls; analyzing a great mis-identification; listening to cranes; canoeing on Christmas Counts; and more. Published in 2013, Why We Bird is available from our online store or office, or see http://whywebird.com.
New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How America Got a Great National Park, by Amy Meyer with Randolph Delehanty. This unique, insider’s account tells how Bay Area activists forged bipartisan local and national support for an unprecedented campaign to create a great new national park — the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Published in 2006 by University of California Press. See http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520235342.
The Sustainable Way: Straight talk about global warming – what causes it, who denies it, and the common sense transition to renewable energy, by James Leach. This plain-spoken 50-page paperback booklet describes the incredible abundance of affordable renewable energy, and the catastrophic consequences if we fail to transition our energy systems away from fossil fuels. See Amazon for info.
Berkeley Walks: Revealing Rambles Through America’s Most Intriguing City
by Robert E. Johnson and Janet L. Byron. Berkeley Walks celebrates the things that make Berkeley such a wonderful walking city through 18 walks that showcase the diverse architecture, panoramic views, tree-lined neighborhoods, historic homes, unusual gardens, secret pathways, hidden parks, vibrant street life, trend-setting restaurants, and intriguing history. Janet is the GGBA member, and she’s happy to autograph gift copies if you contact her through her web site at http://www.berkeleywalks.com. Published in 2015 by Roaring Forties press.
Farming in San Francisco: poems by Daniel Richman. You may remember Dan as the GGBA volunteer who wrote a blog post about installing nest boxes last summer at Stow Lake. In this poetry collection, he celebrates San Francisco, its architecture, flora and fauna, weather, food, and something transcendent that can’t be defined but can be felt. It is an undeniably beautiful city, and yet he doesn’t hesitate to point out the threat and danger that sometimes underlies the beauty. This and Dan’s other books are available at Bird and Beckett Books in Glen Park (San Francisco) or see http://tinyurl.com/hs4bmxl.
Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California, by Frances Dinkelspiel. Tangled Vines explores the dark side of the California wine industry (Indian slavery, exploitation, monopoly, adulterated wine) by examining a 2005 arson that destroyed 4.5 million bottles of fine wine, including some made in 1875 in southern California by Frances Dinkelspiel’s great-great grandfather. In addition to being a GGBA member, Frances is co-founder of the Berkeleyside online news site, which often covers Berkeley wildlife news. Published in 2015 by St. Martin’s Press: See http://francesdinkelspiel.com/books/tangled-vines/synopsis/.
Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize, by Emily Brightwell. Emily Brightwell is the pen name of GGBA member Cheryl Arguile, and this is the 35th book in her best-selling series of “Victorian mysteries” featuring the character Mrs. Jeffries! Here’s how her publisher, Penguin Random House, describes the premise: “The ladies of the Mayfair Orchid and Exotic Plant Society are known for a bit of friendly rivalry, but the backstabbing has never been literal—until now.” See http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/314189/mrs-jeffries-wins-the-prize-by-emily-brightwell/9780425268117/.
The Water Will Hold You, by Lindsey Crittenden. In this “exquisitely written memoir” (Publishers Weekly starred review), a woman starts to pray — not knowing what (or if) she believes. She discovers that faith is constant discovery, and prayer a companion through loss and joy — even when we least expect it. Published in 2007 by Harmony Books, see http://lindseycrittenden.com/books/the-water-will-hold-you/.
An Obstinate, Headstrong Girl, by Abigail Bok. This pastiche of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is set in California’s Central Valley of California in 1999. The gracious Georgian prose lulls the reader with the pretty surfaces of a romantic plot, only to sting the unwary in a sneak attack of sly political satire. Published in 2014 by Alice Books; see its Amazon page.
Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls’ Schools, by Ilana DeBare. Shameless self-promotion — this one is by me! Published in 2004, it’s a social history of all-girl schools from the early 1800s through the present, intertwined with the first-person story of how a small group of us founded the Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland. It’s out of print but I’ve got lots of copies in the garage and my husband would be delighted to see some go. Email me at idebare@goldengatebirdalliance.org.
2017 Birds of the Bay Area photo calendar, by Golden Gate Bird Alliance. Okay, it’s a calendar, not a book, but it’s filled with gorgeous photographs by dozens of our members. It will enliven the most boring cubicle or office wall, and it might even convert your non-birding friends into bird lovers. Plus all sales benefit Golden Gate Bird Alliance’s education and conservation work! Available from our office or online store.
Are you a Golden Gate Bird Alliance member with a recently-published book that we missed? Send us a short description and a web link and we can add it to this list! Email Ilana at idebare@goldengatebirdalliance.org. And if you’re a Bay Area author and nature lover who is not yet a member of GGBA, we warmly invite you to join: See https://goldengatebirdalliance.org/join. Readers: If you’d like to contact any of these authors for an autographed copy, email Ilana and we will put you in touch.