Historical fiction author Budd Titlow chats with me about his novel, Coming Full Circle: How Americans Finally Got Things Right!
Bio:
For the past 50 years, professional ecologist and conservationist Budd Titlow has used his pen and camera to capture the awe and wonders of our natural world. His goal has always been to inspire others to both appreciate and enjoy what he sees. Now he has one main question: Can we save humankind’s place — within nature’s beauty — before it’s too late?
Budd’s two latest books are dedicated to answering this perplexing dilemma. PROTECTING THE PLANET: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change, a non-fiction book, examines whether we still have the environmental heroes among us — harking back to such past heroes as Audubon, Hemenway, Muir, Douglas, Leopold, Brower, Carson, and Meadows — needed to accomplish this goal. Next, using fact-filled and entertaining story-telling, his latest book —COMING FULL CIRCLE: How Americans Finally Got Things Right! —provides the answers we all seek and need.
Having published eight books, more than 500 photo-essays, and 5,000 photographs, Budd Titlow lives with his music educator wife, Debby, in San Diego, California.
Welcome, Budd. Please tell us about your current release.
In an era striving for unity, a hopeful narrative emerges, inviting readers on a transformative journey through time.
Coming Full Circle, the latest 3-book release from Wildlife Biologist and Emeritus Wetlands Scientist Budd Titlow, captivates conscientious audiences with an odyssey through the heart of American history.
Through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters, readers witness untold stories of resilience, determination, and the enduring spirit of human connection.
With masterful storytelling, Titlow deftly navigates the intricacies of history, unraveling the threads that have led us to the brink of crisis. Yet, amidst the shadows of uncertainty, a beacon of hope emerges—a call to action echoing through the ages.
As the pages turn, a challenge lingers in the minds of readers: Will we heed the lessons of the past and embrace change before it’s too late?
Join the conversation and embark on a journey of discovery with Coming Full Circle—a literary tour de force that promises to entertain, inspire, and educate.
“An adventurous, passionate historical novel about an eco-friendly balance between humans and nature.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Using a blend of historical fiction and poignant truths, the (book’s) narrative delivers a spirited discourse on conservation, our environment, oneness, and chiefly, the concept of coming full circle. Overall, the authors’ expertise in the topic of conservationism and their knack for storytelling is on full display, making for a highly recommended read.”–US Review of Books
“I recommend Coming Full Circle to fans of issues-focused fiction who also enjoy family sagas and tales of growth, learning, and self-discovery.” – Readers’ Choice
For the past 50 years, professional ecologist and conservationist Budd Titlow has used his pen and camera to capture the awe and wonders of our natural world. His goal has always been to inspire others to both appreciate and enjoy what he sees. Now he has one main question: Can we save humankind’s place within nature’s beauty, before it’s too late?
Budd’s two latest books are dedicated to answering this perplexing dilemma. Protecting the Planet, a non-fiction book, examines whether we still have the environmental champions among us needed to accomplish this goal. Next, using fact-filled and entertaining story-telling, his latest book — Coming Full Circle — provides the answers we all seek and need.
What inspired you to write this book?
My daughter and co-author, Mariah Tinger.
What exciting project are you working on next?
As a career professional biologist and wetland scientist, I’m currently devoting my time to solving our twin environmental crises—climate change and biodiversity loss—before it’s too late. The general public and our legislators must realize that these are not future problems—they are happening right now!
My father was a career “newspaperman”, so I’ve had the writing guidance and desire since I was about six years old!
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Yes, I currently do. I write/edit daily from about 8 AM to 3PM. I’ve also been an award-winning nature photographer for 45 years.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
With James Michener as my primary influencer, I concentrate on historical fiction—blending personal experience with entertaining stories.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer!
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
As a career wildlife ecologist and conservationist, I am often asked to recommend a book that tells the full story of our Nation’s land conservation ethic and the environmental movement that it eventually spawned. I can never come up with a good suggestion—mainly because such a book doesn’t exist. Until now, that is.
Following the fortunes and foibles of a multi-generational American family, this book explains how we took our country to the brinks of both the Climate Crash and the Sixth Extinction and then back again. Chockful of tall tales—liberally blended with historic facts—the engaging text provides an entertaining and enlightening description of how our Nation’s natural history unfolded from colonial days through the present.
As the journey progresses, readers experience a vivid array of frontier vignettes—including wagon-crushing landslides, badlands raiding parties, frontier smack-downs, buffalo killing fields, life-threatening blizzards, deadly avalanches, alpha predator battles, Gold Rush boomtowns, and bounteous wildlife habitats. Along the way, they also witness heart-warming friendships among white settlers and Native Americans while also meeting wildlife slaughtering ne’er do wells, fun-loving nomads, racist ferrymen, grizzled mountain men, trickster trappers, and ambushing poachers.
Then—as our story moves through the Industrial Revolution and into modern times—merchants and developers start to dominate with their tawdry acts of wiping out entire bird rookeries for women’s hats, ditching and draining south Florida’s wilderness, blasting away mountaintops for coal, damming pristine rivers, destroying coastal shorelines, and fracking entire landscapes into oblivion.
Emphasizing optimism, the last part of the book features the human resiliency that has allowed us to overcome the many existential threats—the Civil War, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, Nazi Germany, the Cold War, COVID-19—we have faced as a Nation. Strategic resolution begins with making Sustainable Design, Low Impact Development (LID), and Best Management Practices (BMP’s) the catch phrases for achieving world-wide Harmonic Equilibrium Design (HED)and Smart Growth.
As an aside to the main story, our readers will get to know the myriad “natural resource heroes” who spawned and nurtured our Nation’s bold conservation movement. People like John Muir, Harriett Hemenway, Roger Tory Peterson, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Ding Darling, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Bob Marshall, David Brower, and Gaylord Nelson—who instilled within us the courage and will power to do the right things. Near the end of the book, we also feature the current leaders of the environmental battles against the climate crisis and biodiversity loss—including such luminaries as Bill McKibben, Al Gore, James Balog, Mark Jacobson, Elizabeth Kolbert, Naomi Klein, Naomi Oreskes, Katherine Hayhoe, Reverend Sally Bingham, and—yes—even Pope Francis.