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Dear Bookclub,
Mama Cella's welcomed us for our chatty lunch to discuss Kirk Wallace Johnson's "The Feather Thief". Well-liked, we pondered the similarities to "The Art Thief" and wondered about the plausibility of Edwin Rist lugging his loot single-handedly. Not only does the story seem incomplete, the damage of the theft will never be fully understood.
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| Walter |
Intrigued by Walter Rothschild's natural-specimen collecting obsession, which ultimately became the Museum at Tring, I found a bit of fascinating history... be sure to check out the man working in the shed:
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/walter-rothschild-a-curious-life.html
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| Minna B. Hall |
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| Harriet Hemenway |
Marveling at the history of the "feather-fever" in fashion, which resulted in the slaughtering of birds world-wide, we learned that Audubon Society was founded by two very long-lived cousins, in response with preservation and protection in mind:
https://www.massaudubon.org/about/history
The King Bird-of-paradise feather above is also from the Audubon website, illustrating an article about Johnson's book complete with excerpt:
https://www.audubon.org/news/on-hunt-hundreds-rare-birds-stolen-museum
The path forward is strange as any feathers recovered would be scientifically useless and Rist, now Reinhard lives on as a professional flutist. Edwin Reinhard. The researching of Rist/Reinhard is not very rewarding. I am lame with Facebook but this fun info popped up while googling. Be sure to read the comments on the sidebar:
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| Thief |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO80dgra5C0
Terry's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"Memorial Days" Geraldine Brooks *chosen
"Playground" Richard Powers
"Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love" David Talbot
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
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