I got some very sad news yesterday when I was speaking in Warrensburg. My good friend Jim Jackson passed away in Panama. Jim was a great supporter of wildlife conservation and the former owner of the Fossil Rim Wildlife Park in Glen Rose, Texas. He was a tremendous help to me when I was working on the red wolf reintroduction program. I miss him and it was difficult to get through the red wolf part if my talk. Over 20 years of wonderful memories flooded in as the images came onto the screen. Years ago Jim invited Marie and I to sail around the world with him. At the very end we decided that we couldn’t goo. I’ve often wondered what our lives would be like now if we’d gone on that adventure with our old friend. Jim was a gentle soul and one of a kind. Wildlife lost one of its foremost advocates in my old friend, Mr. Jim Jackson.

Because of the late start I’ll have to wait to work on I,Q until after the school visits today after I get to next hotel, which I understand is a couples  hours away from here.

I had a great time at the Viroqua & Cashton Schools.  Very polite students with wonderful questions.  Thank you for inviting me!

Dorothy has written over 130 books. (Go to her link on my home page). Greg has written many cookbooks and has won the James Beard award.

I’ve known Dororthy for over 20 years and she is directly responsible for me getting my first book “Sea Otter Rescue” published.

It was absolutely wonderful to see them! I wish I could have stuck around to spend the day with them, but Texas calls…

They are pictured below at the dining room table after dinner in what looks like a Mac attack.

One of the great things about being an author is that we always seem to meet the right people at the right time with the information we need.

When we finished what became “W is for Waves” we sent it to Scott. He helped us greatly with the daunting task of explaining how the ocean works in the confines of a 32 page picture book.

Thank you Scott! And it was wonderful to see you again Joan!

Below, Jay Asher, author of “Thirteen Reasons Why,” blows an (early) wish for his 34th birthday here in Florida…a long way from home…at dinner with Peg Kehret, Stephanie Tolan, Leslie Helakowski, Marie and I.