The idea for SADDAM'S PARROT was largely inspired by two gripping stories about parrots—the documentary film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, and the well known story of Alex, the amazing parrot studied and befriended by the Harvard cognitive scientist, Irene Pepperberg.  

I should add that for most of my professional life I've been an ecologist, fascinated by the nuances of animal behavior and the ways natural systems reach tipping points and crash. I knew that the story inside me invo...


Continue reading ...