Author: Stephen Lyn Bales, Foreword by Nancy Tanner In 1935 naturalist James T. Tanner was a twenty-one-year-old graduate student when he saw his first ivory-billed woodpecker, one of Americas rarest birds, in a remote swamp in northern Louisiana. At the time he was part of an ambitious expedition traveling across the country to record and photograph as many avian species as possible, a trip organized by Dr. Arthur Allen, founder of the famed Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Two years later Tanner hit the road again, this time by himself and in search of only one speciesthat ever-elusive ivory-bill. Sponsored by Cornell and the Audubon Society, Jim Tanners work would result in some of the most extensive field research of the magnificent woodpecker ever conducted. Drawing on Tanners personal journals and written with the cooperation of his widow, Nancy, Ghost Birds recounts, in fascinating detail, the scientists dogged quest for the ivory-bill as he chased down leads in eight southern states. With Stephen Lyn Bales as our guide, we experience the same awe and excitement that Tanner felt when he returned to the Louisiana wetland he had visited earlier and was able to observe and document several of the ghost birdsincluding a nestling that he handled, banded, and photographed at close range. Investigating the ivory-bill was particularly urgent because it was a fast-vanishing species, the victim of indiscriminant specimen hunting and widespread logging that was destroying its habitat. As sightings became rarer and rarer in the decades following Tanners remarkable research, the bird was feared to have become extinct. Since 2005, reports of sightings in Arkansas and Florida made headlines and have given new hope to ornithologists and bird lovers, although extensive subsequent investigations have yet to produce definitive confirmation. Before he died in 1991, Jim Tanner himself had come to believe that the majestic woodpeckers were probably gone forever, but he remained hopeful that someone would prove him wrong. This book fully captures Tanners determined spirit as he tracked down what was then, as now, one of ornithologys true Holy Grails.

Author: Robert Ward Understanding James Leo Herlihy is the first book-length study of one of America's most neglected postwar writers. Herlihy (19271993), an occasional actor, made his professional mark in life as a playwright and novelist. Herlihy produced a significant body of work, which includes numerous plays, two collections of short stories, and three novels. His best-known novel, Midnight Cowboy, was later adapted into a screenplay by John Schlesinger. It was the only X-rated movie to receive an Academy Awardthree, in fact, in 1969: best picture, best director, and best adapted screenplay. In Understanding James Leo Herlihy, Robert Ward examines Herlihy's writing with reference to its historical, cultural, and personal contexts. Ward portrays Herlihy as a product of his environment, influenced by the 1950s and 1960s culture, including the youth rebellion, the erosion of the traditional family, and the increasing sexual liberation. Herlihy's award-winning novels, plays, and short stories display persistent themes of displacement, alienation, and the loss of innocenceall themes that Ward views as parallel to Herlihy's personal life. Understanding James Leo Herlihy offers a detailed analysis of Herlihy's key works and their relation to his personal life. Through a biographical introduction, a detailed discussion of the major novels, plays, and short stories, and a substantial bibliography, Ward details the writer's critically and commercially successful works.