“We are on the cusp of either destroying this sweet, green Earth — or revolutionizing the way we understand the rest of animate creation,” says. “It’s an important time to be writing about the connections we share with our fellow creatures. It’s a great time to be alive.”
And those tubes who are our ancestors? Sy says: “That was a simpler time, eons before the octopus and Homo sapiens went their separate evolutionary ways, and certainly long before that highly intelligent cephalopod, which appeared some 300 million years ago, ended up boiled, stewed and fried. Our lineage goes back a half-billion years ago when everyone was a tube. That was when there were no eyes. Yet we have evolved almost identical eyes. I just love that.” Read the interview.
Octo-Brits. Episode 3 of BBC’s fantastic Earth Podcast explores the senses. Sy talks about touch, and those many-armed masters of touch, octopuses. That’s first up, but be sure to listen to composer Hans Zimmer and soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause speaking about sound. Listen here.
Sy is thrilled that these great kids from her dear friend Joel Glick’s class at Atlantic Bilingual School in Honduras are reading Journey of the Pink Dolphins. She can’t wait to Skype with them when Christmas break is over. Their teacher, Joel, says, “We cannot thank you enough for this generous donation. They are working really hard reading and interpreting your amazing book.”
Good Gnus: The Magnificent Migration: On Safari with Africa’s Last Great Herd is one of Booklist’s “Best of 2019” books.