小蓝视频

NEW YORK 鈥� When Margaret Atwood would receive invitations over the years to literary events around the world, literature wasn't the only factor shaping her response. She also kept in mind the interests of her longtime partner and fellow Canadian author Graeme Gibson.

鈥淪ometimes I would accept so we could go to the place and watch birds,鈥� she says.

Gibson, who died in 2019 at age 85, was known well beyond the world of books. He was a prominent conservationist and ornithologist who helped found the Pelee Island Bird Observatory, served on the council of the World Wildlife Fund Canada and was honorary president of BirdLife International鈥檚 Rare Bird Club. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society awarded him a gold medal in 2015.

Inevitably, his love for birds found its way into his writing.

鈥淭he Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany," an illustrated compilation of folktales, poems, fiction and nonfiction that Gibson had assembled on his own, was originally published in 2005. A surprise bestseller at the time, it has been reissued with a new foreword from Atwood, who called birdwatching a pursuit she and Gibson enjoyed together.

鈥淭hough if birdwatching were a religion," added Atwood, who spent part of her childhood in the backwoods of Quebec, 鈥滻'd have been the blase communicant who鈥檇 grown up in it and performed its rituals because that鈥檚 what our people do, and Graeme would have been the new convert, smitten with blinding light on the road to Damascus.鈥�

鈥淓very bird was a revelation to him,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淎 red-tailed hawk! Look at that! Nothing could be more magnificent.鈥�

鈥淭he Bedside Book of Birds鈥� is divided into nine sections 鈥� 鈥渉abitats,鈥� Gibson called them 鈥� that centre on such themes as birds as omens, as revelations, avengers and mysteries. His sources ranged from Euripides and Marco Polo to a poem by Atwood (鈥淰ultures鈥�) and a brief passage from a June 1944 issue of Scientific American, which related the story of an Ohio women who used her ailing, feverish husband as an incubator for hens' eggs.

鈥淪he took 50 eggs, and wrapping each one in cotton batting, laid them alongside the body of her husband in the bed, he being unable to move a limb,鈥� according to the magazine. 鈥淎fter three weeks she was rewarded with 46 lively young chickens.鈥�

During a recent telephone interview, Atwood recalled Gibson's struggle to find a publisher for 鈥淭he Bedside Book of Birds.鈥� He had released several previous works, including the novels 鈥淔ive Legs鈥� and 鈥淧erpetual Motion,鈥� but initially couldn't get anyone interested in a book that Atwood wryly describes as 鈥渁n odd duck.鈥�

Blame it on the '90s, she says.

鈥淭he 1990s, if you recall, was an odd decade. The Cold War had ended, the Berlin Wall had come down in 1989 and people were saying things like 鈥榯he end of history.鈥� That was wrong, wrong, wrong,鈥� Atwood said. 鈥淪o the 鈥�90s was kind of the 鈥楲et鈥檚 go shopping' decade. Capitalism had won over communism. We noticed it in the publishing world, because when the Wall went down there was a rush for consumer pop culture."

By the mid-2000s, 鈥渃limate change鈥� was an increasingly common expression, former Vice-President Al Gore was making his Academy Award-winning environmental documentary 鈥淎n Inconvenient Truth," and concern was growing about the fate of wildlife. Gibson's book was acquired by Maya Mavjee at Doubleday Canada.

鈥淚 think we all immediately fell in love with the project, and Graeme鈥檚 enthusiasm was infectious,鈥� Mavjee, now president and publisher for the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, told the AP. 鈥淓very part of the book is a glimpse into Graeme鈥檚 passions 鈥� nature, art, literature and of course birds. I think it caught on because it鈥檚 so utterly authentic, a true reflection of his obsession with all things birds.鈥�

And, 鈥渨ith the uptick in the birdwatching market, the timing seemed perfect" for a reissue," she said.

Atwood says that Gibson's personal favourite among birds were ravens: 鈥淗e loved ravens, as everybody should. They're very smart, and they have very long memories.鈥�

In his book, Gibson also describes an unexpected bond with a parrot named Harold Wilson. He purchased the bird 鈥� illegally 鈥� in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1964, and brought him back to Toronto, where his vocal expressions were mostly limited to imitating a vacuum cleaner and barking 鈥渓ike two dogs at once.鈥�

But Harold seemed increasingly lonely, and Gibson decided to give him to the Toronto Zoo. The zoo's director led Gibson, and Harold, to a 鈥渃ongenial cage,鈥� shared with a parrot named Olive.

鈥淚 said my goodbyes and turned to leave. Then Harold did something that astonished me,鈥� Gibson wrote. 鈥淔or the very first time, and in exactly the voice my kids might have used, he called me 鈥楧addy!' When I turned to look at him, he was leaning toward me expectantly. 鈥楧addy,鈥� he repeated.鈥�

鈥淲e think of our captive birds as pets," he concluded, 鈥渂ut perhaps we are their pets, as well.鈥�

_____

On March 30 at 7 p.m. EDT, Atwood will participate in an online benefit at the Pelee Island Bird Observatory.

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press