Promise Of The Wolves (30 page)

L
ydda stood at the tree line that marked the boundary between the spirit world and the world of life. She watched the young, moon-marked wolf, barely half grown, walk to the humans and wolves who stood together. There was still so much work to do, Lydda thought. She darted a glance over her shoulder, back toward the spirit world. She had only a few moments before she was missed, and she would likely be in trouble. Still, she watched a little longer. And as the sun rose in the sky and the creatures of the Wide Valley came together again, she felt a weight lift from her heart. And slowly, just a little, her tail began to wag.

There are three women without whom this book would never have been written. My writing buddies, sages, and guides through the mist, Pamela Berkman, Harriet Rohmer, and my mother and mentor, Jean Hearst, were writing with me long before the wolves strode through the door. They helped me find my way as a writer, and to keep on going through the challenges of writing a first novel. My father, Joe Hearst, told me when I was young that the most important thing to do in your life is to find work you love, and has set an example of doing just that as a physicist, photographer, and Renaissance man. My parents also offered unending support and set a lifelong example of living with integrity and courage.

My brother, Ed, and my sister, Marti, have been my heroes since we were all puppies, my challengers and guides in adulthood, and have assumed all along that I would write a successful book. My grandparents are not here to meet the wolves, but their love helped make me the kind of person who could write books.

I have no idea how I got so lucky as to find my superagent, Mollie Glick. Her enthusiasm for the wolves, her thoughtful guidance, and her exceptional savvy and smarts have been a gift and a joy. I struck gold a second time when the wolves found their way to the wonderful Kerri Kolen at Simon & Schuster, whose insightful comments and wise advice took the book to the next level. Thank you to Victoria Meyer, Rebecca Davis, and Leah Wasielewski, S&S’s savvy publicity and marketing team; to Marcella Berger and S&S’s remarkable foreign rights team; to Stephen Llano and to Tom Pitoniak, for the insightful copyediting; and to Jessica Regel at Jean Naggar Agency, my guide through the world of audio rights.

If you are very fortunate, you get to work with a group of people who change your life and make you realize that you are put on the Earth to work toward something. To my partners in crime and dear friends, Paul Foster, David Greco, Xenia Lisanevich, and Johanna Vondeling, much love, and to the dream team—Jennifer Bendery, Colleen Brondou, Allison Brunner, Paul Cohen, Jessica Egbert, Lynn Honrado, Ocean Howell, Erin Jow, Tamara Keller, Bruce Lundquist, Deb Nasitka, Jennifer Ng, Mariana Raykov, Karen Warner, Jennifer Whitney, Jesse Wiley, Akemi Yamaguchi, Mary Zook—thank you for sharing the amazing journey. To everyone at the magical world of Jossey-Bass, thank you for creating a place of dreams and possibility.

Thank you to Bonnie Akimoto, Allison Brunner, and Cheryl Greenway for the wonderful friendship and support. I am unendingly grateful to the good friends who encouraged me—and reminded me to leave my apartment from time to time: Bruce Bellingham, Diane Bodiford, Laura Coen, Emily Felt, Diana Gordon, Rick Gutierrez, Nina Kreiden, Lesley Iura, Jane Levikow, Katie Levine, Donna Ryan, Mehran Saky, Carl Shapiro, Liane Shayer, Starla Sireno, Kathe Sweeney, Tigris, Erik Thrasher, Bernadette Walter, Jeff Wyneken. And a special thank-you and much love to Allison, Bonnie, Cheryl, Johanna, Pam, and my family, who were there to catch me when I fell.

Thank you to Master Norman Lin, who taught me confidence, courage, and perseverance in the face of frustration. And to my fellow students and friends at San Francisco Tae Kwon Do. I could not have made it through the challenge of writing a first novel without everything I learned from all of you in this special place.

Thank you to Susan Holt for wonderful conversations on wolves and coevolution, for driving me across France to see ancient cave art, and for the loan of the huskies. And many thanks to Joan Irwin, for rescuing me from the huskies.

I had the good fortune to have wonderful mentors early in my career and great advice as I made my way through writing and publishing my first book. Thank you to Alan Shrader, Carol Brown, Debra Hunter, Frances Hesselbein, Lynn Luckow, Murray Dropkin, Debbie Notkin, Sheryl Fullerton, and Heather Florence.

I had the privilege of working with the great thinkers and authors in the social and public sectors, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of their work. Every book I worked on with all of you was an example of what is best in the world.

I was constantly amazed and humbled by the generosity of experts in the wolf, dog, and evolutionary science fields who graciously shared their time and knowledge. Wolf experts Norm Bishop, Luigi Boitani, and Amy Kay Kerber were kind enough to read an early manuscript and offer advice. Raymond Coppinger, Temple Grandin, Paul Tacon, and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas counseled me on the evolution of wolves, dogs, and people. Rick McIntyre, Doug Smith, Bob Landis, and Jess Edberg had wonderful wolf tales and advice. Connie Millar offered invaluable advice and great conversation on paleoecology and climate science. I also read about a million books in the course of writing
Promise of the Wolves,
and all of them influenced my writing. Especially helpful were the work of Luigi Boitani, Stephen Budianksy, Raymond and Lorna Coppinger, Jared Diamond, Temple Grandin, Bernd Heinrich, Barry Lopez, David Mech, Michael Pollan, Doug Smith, and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, and the research of Robert Wayne and D. K. Belyaev. Thank you to the International Wolf Center, Defenders of Wildlife, the Yellowstone Association, Wolf Haven, Wolf Park, and the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center for great information and research about wolves. Thank you to Jean Clottes and to the wonderful people at Les Combarelles, Font-de-Gaume, and the museum at Les Eyzies. Thanks to James Hopkin and Bernadette Walter for helping me map out the Wide Valley.

Thanks to Sam Blake and Danielle Johansen at Never Cry Wolf Rescue, to Dante, Comanche, Lady Cheyenne, and Motzy for agreeing to pose with me, and to Lori Cheung for the magical wolf photos. Thanks to Jerry Bauer for the delightful photo shoot and terrific photos.

I can never quite believe that you are actually allowed to go into a library and read whatever book you want. I’m particularly grateful for these wonderful resources.

Much of this book was written in cafés in San Francisco and Berkeley. Thanks to Michael and everyone at It’s a Grind on Polk, Alix and Golanz at Royal Ground, Phillip and the gang at the Crepe House. And a huge thank-you to all café owners who let writers sit for hours and peck away at their laptops. And for all of you who are also café writers: order stuff, share your table, and tip well.

I workshopped the first chapters of this book at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and the experience of being surrounded by other writers was transformational. I am especially grateful to the good advice I received from Sands Hall, James Houston, and Janet Fitch. Thank you also to Donna Levin and my fellow students at CWP.

And last but most certainly not least, thank you to all of the more or less domesticated wolves who helped me with my research: Emmi, Jude, Nike, Talisman (aka demonchild) and Ice, Kuma, Xöchi, Scooby, Rufus, Senga and Tess, Flash, Fee and Mingus, Shakespeare, Noni, Ginger and Caramel (thanks for the bit about grabbing your human by the wrist), and special mention to kitties Dominic and Blossom, all of whom taught me exactly who has domesticated whom.

Any resemblance between wolves in the book and people I know is coincidental. Kind of.