August, 2008
Amy and I had great bear viewing at Redoubt Bay for 10 days. The weather was terrible but the bears were being treated to salmon runs up the creek as the creek is still flowing, even this late in the summer.  There was a sad note to the experience as Baylee suffered some sickness which she passed on to her nursing cubs. One cub did not make it and the other two look like they are not right either.  As I write this, Amy is still there, and will report to me next week on the health of the Baylee family.  The good note is that we saw both of the female bears which were part of Baylee's litter in 2002 and both of them had three healthy cubs of the year. We also watched two teenagers sticking close together fishing and playing which could only be her cubs of 2005. They were quite blond, which reminded us of Bruno. Frequently there were a group of three bears which were the same age. When you added the gorgeous dark chocolate bear we called "Teddy" that made for a gang of six teenagers.  I will make a new page with pictures in the next week or so, so check back.  Here is a sample; this one is "Irish" one of Baylee's cubs from 2005.


"Irish" photo by Linda Hunter, July, 2008


Here are some comments on the book I recieved by email:

Congratulations on a beautiful and evocative book. My
mom and I enjoyed every page when we read it a few
weeks back. Your voice is lucid, centered, and
consistent throughout the book, again I congratulate
you and feel full of admiration for your work.  Juan Carlos Arregui

I have your book now and am reading it. It is a great book. I am learning
things from it. Charlie Russell, Author of Grizzly Seasons

Just wanted to tell you that I
finished your book and liked it very much. I got a good feeling for that place and for
you too.  Charlie Russell Charlie's website

Thanks for sending me a copy of Lonesome ...   A delightful book.  Well written, entertaining, informative.  I will write a review for our website and for Amazon.
Reading it reminds me of how frustrated I was that summer not to have a chance to learn more about tracking from you. All in all, one of the best narratives on bears ever written. Dr. Steve Stringham, author of Bear Viewing in Alaska

I finished your book and really enjoyed it!  You're a great writer and it
was fun reading about all the stories......some which we had heard and many
more that we hadn't.  Sandy Carlson

Hi Linda,
Hey!  Your book is a great read!  Thanks for writing it.  I really enjoyed
it.  I think your writing is very successful at being respectful of the
animals as wild beings while at the same time giving the reader a personal
connection with them that helps them understand them as individuals. Steve Engel

May, 2008
When you publish a book, blogging is sort of mandatory. To see some of my blogs, go to www.redroom.com
or follow some of the fascinating wildlife politics on the web at Ralph Maughan's news sight and blog.

Thanks to the Stevenson Friends of the Vancouver Library for a great event in launching the book. My only wish would have been to have Amy there too, but Mike was there selling books and answering questions about running a remote lodge.


April, 2008 update. .
I have heard some feedback from some of you  . "engaging" was a one word response, "great book" from another, "learned a few things" was a very gratifying compliment, as well as "can't wait to get back to it, I am not done reading it yet".  The Washington State Governor (picture below) told Casey that she was very interested in animals and was pleased to recieve a copy.  It looks like, God willing, Amy and I are going to be back with the bears in July.  This is very exciting news for me and if you check back here in August I will have a full update on what bears are still in the cove, what they are doing and how things are at Big River Lakes.

















































Thanks to Casey Roeder, Director of the Skamania County Chamber of Commerce here is a picture of Lonesome for Bears in the hands of Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire.  Casey gave her a copy of the book as a gift.  Governor Gregoire had recently declared a Bear Awareness Week in Washington State from May 12 - May 18.






To see more of Amy Shapira's photographs before the book comes out, just
look at her website.


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