Long time editor and Board of Directors of one of my favorite Magazines, Stephen Long brought my blog to the attention of Alan Sparks, author of "DREAMING OF WOLVES" : ADVENTURES IN THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS OF TRANSYLVANIA---Alan's new book sounds fascinating and as the debate about wolves continues in the United States, "Dreaming of Wolves" offers American readers an interesting and useful perspective from a place and a culture where people and wolves have coexisted for centuries. I am going to pick up a copy for my library...........please consider doing the same.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alan Sparks <no-reply@kontactr.com>
Date: Fri, Jan 7, 2011 at 2:43 PM
Subject: Kontactr : Dreaming of Wolves
To: rick.meril@gmail.com


Sender's name : Alan Sparks
Sender's Email : alansparks@att.net
Referrer : http://kontactr.com/user/rick.meril

Dear Rick,

Stephen Long at Northern Woodlands Magazine brought your interesting and informative blog to my attention. Congratulations for producing such a useful resource for those who care about the fate of the large predators (and of course, thereby and also for the fate of the earth)! I can see a lot of research behind what you do.

I'm writing to bring your attention to a book I have written that you and your readers and fellow commentators may find very pertinent, interesting, and entertaining. It is called "Dreaming of Wolves: Adventures in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania," and is published by Hancock House Publishers.

With the enactment of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, the fate of wolves in the lower 48 States dramatically changed. Having been essentially eradicated from most of the landscape over the previous century, wolf populations began a slow but steady recovery, in some cases aided by their traditional human antagonists. Today, as wolves are returning to areas in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountain regions, and marginally in small areas of the Southwest and Southeast, conflicts, controversies, and passions are on the rise. Wolf-related stories are often making headlines in these regions, as some people vehemently support the presence of wolves and some people vehemently oppose it. As the debate about wolves continues in the United States, "Dreaming of Wolves" offers an interesting and useful perspective from a place and a culture where people and wolves have coexisted for centuries.

From a promotional blurb about the book:

Part travelogue, part memoir, part natural and cultural history, "Dreaming of Wolves" presents an eclectic and thought-provoking story of adventure. Through a series of entertaining vignettes and informative essays, the author paints an extraordinary portrait of the lives of wolves, of the researchers who study them, and of the rural people with whom they have co-existed for centuries in a remote mountainous region of Eastern Europe – an exotic region that has remained largely untouched by modern trends and largely undiscovered by western travelers.

 As the reader joins the adventure – whether tracking wolves through the deep snows and dense forests of the Carpathian Mountains, or fending off belligerent shepherd dogs, or sitting on the floor of a sacred cave contemplating time and consciousness – he or she learns a remarkable amount of fascinating information about wolf ecology and behavior, and the history, folklore, and traditional rural life of Romania.

 The story is related in an understated voice that is at once honest, humble, and humorous, deriving from events perceived with a keen and sensitive eye. The chronicle includes several sub-themes – such as the benefits of conserving wilderness, the joy of discovering self through the pursuit of dreams, and an unusual perspective on the nature of time and consciousness – all of which are woven smoothly into the fabric of a well-told story. The book includes 32 pages of beautiful color photographs.


A review of "Dreaming of Wolves" by Kirkus Discoveries may be viewed at:
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/non-fiction/alan-e-sparks/dreaming-of-wolves/

More reviews and details (and links to order the book) may be accessed at http://www.dreamingofwolves.com/intro.html

Thank you for your time!

Alan Sparks


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