SHADOW MOUNTAIN: A Memoir of Wolves, a Woman, and the Wild

Naturalist Askins narrates what is both an autobiography and the story of one of America's most controversial conservation projects—the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park. Idyllic childhood summer evenings in northern Michigan; interning at a captive wolf project in Indiana; spending time on the west coast of Africa, Yale University and Montana accent the author's exploration of her life story as an enduring love of nature. Askins accomplishes her task with fascinating anecdotes and insightful introspection. The reader learns about the writer's life-altering experience as a college student raising a newborn wolf cub. The heartfelt bonding of the young woman with her wild charge and the enduring memory of this incident helped form her character and direct her future. In 1986, Askins founded the Wolf Fund, whose purpose and function was to reestablish wolves into their proper place within the ecosystem of Yellowstone. The author is most engaging when she candidly recounts the emotional bruises from her sometimes naive misperceptions about both the brutal natural world and the rough-and-tumble world of Western ecological politics. In honestly detailing these revelatory episodes, Askins reexamines her scientific suppositions and her personal premises. Those interested in wildlife, ecology and especially wolves will find this a delightful read. (June)