Feather Wars: The Crusade to Save America’s Birds

At The Museum | Fleischmann Auditorium

Presented by the Santa Barbara Audubon Society and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Join author and journalist James McCommons to hear the dramatic story of early conservationists who fought back when America’s birds were being slaughtered for fashion, food, and trade. His newest book, The Feather Wars: The Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds, is an entertaining and expansive work of American history. It’s an incredible story about how disparate characters—progressive politicians, free-thinking society belles, nature writers and artists, bird-loving U.S. presidents, gunmakers, business titans, and brave game wardens all came together to save hundreds of species of birds. Heroes, martyrs, villains, and conflicted do-gooders—the early bird conservation movement had them all.

James McCommons is a professor emeritus at Northern Michigan University where he taught journalism and nature writing for 20 years. He is a veteran journalist, specializing in ecology, environmental, and travel topics. He has written hundreds of general interest magazine articles and is the author of two previous books of nonfiction: Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail (2009) and Camera Hunter: George Shiras III and the Birth of Wildlife Photography (2019).

Courtesy of Chaucer’s Bookstore, books by James McCommons will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

Tickets $5
Click here to reserve yours online today. Some tickets may be available at the door.

Contact kzsembik@sbnature2.org for more information.

Speaker photo by Ryan Stephens, Northern Michigan University

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