SAS Book Club News – January
Christian Cooper has lived an extraordinary life. His book Better Living through Birding allows us to follow his journey from an early age. He built his first bird feeder at age 10 through a 4-H program and was enthralled when a Red-winged Blackbird immediately appeared to feed. At that thrilling moment he believed he had discovered a new species of crow with crimson wing bars! Cooper’s schoolteacher parents nurtured their son’s interest in birds, and he quickly acquired expert birders as mentors during forays on Long Island. During his undergraduate days at Harvard, he became President of the Ornithological Club. Later, while balancing careers as a science writer and editor in the biomedical sciences as well as a comics writer and editor for Marvel Comics, Cooper continued to bird, often hopping on the subway to look for birds in nearby Central Park. His dedication resulted in his appointment as a member of the Board of NYC Audubon.
One morning in May 2022, Cooper was observing migratory birds resting in the park. A chance encounter with a woman walking her dogs resulted in her accusations that Cooper, a black man, was threatening her and her dog. The woman called the police, and Cooper’s recorded video of the original encounter went viral. The authorities and the public overwhelmingly took his side. Shortly after the incident, National Geographic invited Cooper to create and star in a series called Extraordinary Birder. The series won a Daytime Emmy award in 2024.
Cooper is a gay man, and his life shows a continuous thread of social activism on behalf of LGBTQ people. He says that the dual challenge of being gay and black in America today actually strengthened his affinity with birds and the natural world.
This first Book Club meeting of 2025 will be held January 15th at Hope Lutheran Church from 6:30 to 7:45 pm. You can find us in Room 123 eating treats and animatedly discussing this month’s selection- Christian Cooper’s Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World (2023). We are easygoing bibliophiles and love to meet others who share our love of birds and books. If you would like to join the meeting remotely, contact Elisabeth Swanson (406-570-8325; elsswa@gmail.com) before the meeting.
To learn more about Christian Cooper, view the following interview by the New York Times with fellow author and bird enthusiast Amy Tan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qcBW3Urjhk
