Description

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In Wild Things, Wild Places actress, author, and conservationist Jane Alexander offers a moving first-hand assessment of what is being done to help the planet’s most at risk animals. In short reflections on her travels to some of the most remote and forbidding areas, she describes the ways in which human incursions into the natural world are destroying wildlife around the globe. With a clear eye and a keen grasp of the issues, Alexander highlights the remarkable work being done in the fields of science and conservation, and introduces readers to the field biologists, zoologists, environmentalists, and conservationists—the “prophets in the wilderness”—who have committed themselves to this essential effort. Inspiring and enlightening, Wild Things, Wild Places is a deeply personal look at the changing face of wildlife on planet Earth.

About the Author

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Jane Alexander is an actress, a writer, and a conservationist. She chaired the National Endowment for the Arts under President Clinton from 1993-1997 and her chronicle of those turbulent years, Command Performance: An Actress in the Theatre of Politics, was named a New York Times Notable Book. A Tony Award winner, Alexander has performed in more than a hundred plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway and was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1994. Her long film career includes four Academy Award nominations, for the The Great White Hope, All The President’s Men, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Testament. Appearing in more than forty television movies, she has been honored with two Emmys, for Playing for Time and Warm Springs.

A dedicated conservationist and birder, Alexander was a Trustee of the Wildlife Conservation Society, a board member of the American Bird Conservancy, the American Birding Association, and a Commissioner of New York State Parks. She currently sits on the board of the National Audubon Society, the Global Advisory Group of Bird Life International, and the Conservation Council of Panthera. In 2012 the Indianapolis Prize inaugurated the Jane Alexander Global Wildlife Ambassador Award, with Alexander as its first recipient.

Praise For…

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“[A] lovely travelogue. . . . Part memoir-style recollections of [Alexander’s] incredible encounters with shamans and hyenas, part call-to-action.” —Austin Chronicle

“Alexander shares a lifetime of travel to places as farflung as Bhutan and Belize, where she encountered some of the world’s most endangered species.” —National Geographic

“Part international-travel diary, part memoir, sprinkled with educational tidbits about how to help endangered species.” —Miami Herald
 
“Alexander is the visionary that will inspire today’s environmental movement.” —Lynne Cox, author of Swimming in the Sink

“A moving and inspiring look at the crucial work of wildlife preservationists across the globe.” —Time Out Philadelphia
 
“[A] clear-eyed and beautifully produced book.” —Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA)
 
“An urgent and heartfelt memoir. We are teetering toward the end of nature, and Jane’s vivid prose may be just the thing to wake us up before it’s too late.” —Seth Godin, author of What to Do When it’s Your Turn (and it’s Always Your Turn)
 
“Impassioned. . . . The real force of the book resides in the author’s articulation of her exhilaration of the wonders of nature . . . and her willingness to ford streams, slash through jungles, and scale mountains to defend it.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“A pleasure to read, reminiscent of the work of Osa and Martin Johnson, the Lindberghs, and Rachel Carson. But along with her delight and discovery, we share Alexander’s sadness at the fast-disappearing ecological richness of our world.” —Kathleen Spivack, author of Unspeakable Things
 
“An intimate and important look at the state of wildlife conservation in an increasingly shrinking world.” —Booklist