Live 'Wild Snail' Fundraiser For Dr Lipkin's Microbediscovery Project! 21st-22nd Nov.

[Scarecrow]

I took that to mean that humans care for their sisters' babies, but meerkats eat their sisters' babies.

Of course! Thanks

 

[Bob]

The beginning of the book is available free to read, as a PDF, here:
www.elisabethtovabailey.net/files/WildSnail_Chapters_watermark_2010.pdf

 

[Bob]

And there's a very good short article about the book here, if anyone wants to read some background...

Books: ‘The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating’
November 6, 2014 - Heather King
http://www.angelusnews.com/entertai...und-of-a-wild-snail-eating-6710/#.VG3uXfmsWSr

Elisabeth Tova Bailey lives on the mid-coast of Maine. That’s about all we know of her background in the novel “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating.” Then, we learn, “At the age of 34, on a brief trip to Europe, I was felled by a mysterious viral or bacterial pathogen, resulting in severe neurological symptoms.”

The pathogen began slowly to eat away at her immune system, severely compromising her heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion. For a time, her bones were more or less turned to mush. Eventually, she had to move from her large house to small studio apartment, capable of little more than lying in bed all day. Often the only person she would see was her caretaker for a half-hour at meals.

Then a friend brought her a little pot of violets, dug from the leafy loam outside Elisabeth’s studio, in which she’d placed a single woodland snail. This small, humble snail ended up becoming Elisabeth’s companion guide and, in a sense, alter ego for a year...

Continue reading:
http://www.angelusnews.com/entertai...und-of-a-wild-snail-eating-6710/#.VG3uXfmsWSr

 

[vli]

Please retweet this tweet if you have a Twitter account: Oliver Sacks tweets about ME!

https://twitter.com/OliverSacks/status/535481421767659521

 

[Sean]

Who is EO Wilson!!!!? I nearly fell to the floor. But seriously he is someone most people have never heard of but to my mind, and quite a few others, the person who understands the evolution of social animals, and probably evolution as a whole, better than any other human being. A true pioneer and a complete one off.

He is also quite battle hardened, having been subject to some pretty ferocious nonsense early on in his career over his seminal work on sociobiology. So he is unlikely to be easily fobbed off or dissuaded once he is onto something.

Plus, by all accounts, a thorough gentlemen.

And even if indirect, making connections is what raising awareness is all about.

You don't have to make a lot of direct connections to effectively spread information, just the right ones.

 

[Bob]

I've read the free section of Wild Snail - I've found it very enjoyable, and surprisingly uplifting considering the circumstances of the author.

(I notice that there are some nice little quotes about nature by Edward O. Wilson.)

 

[Bob]

How come we have not heard of this book before? Or did I miss that thread?

It did get discussed within the community, at the time of publication, with positive reviews. Clearly it's not been widely discussed if you've not heard of it.

If we can get Wilson and Sacks onside,… well, that is the kind of support that campaigners' dreams are made of.

Mr Sacks has Tweeted, in case you missed it:
https://twitter.com/OliverSacks/status/535481421767659521

Her writing reminds me of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard, which is one of my all time favourite books, and one of the very few I have re-read.

Thanks for that. I'll look out for it. I enjoy nature writing as well. I've been looking at this and this recently. Not read them yet though. And I recommend Waterlog if you enjoy the outdoors and swimming in the outdoors (or if, like me, you dream of enjoying it once again.)

 

[Sean]

And I recommend Waterlog if you enjoy the outdoors and swimming in the outdoors (or if, like me, you dream of enjoying it once again.)

I would love to be able to swim again. Doing laps is the best natural meditation I ever tried, plus the bonus of serious aerobic exercise.

 

[Gijs]

Richard Dawkins is more familiar to young people. But Edward Wilson is also a great evolutionist. Personally, I know a lot of evolution. I must conclude that only micro-evolution really is scientifically proven. Macro Evolution is a philosophical concept. Yet many scientists will claim otherwise. I think macro evolution is a fairy tale for grown people and Darwinists. Maybe someone can open a new topic for evolution. This is not the place for a debate. I hope the Lipkin study will be done soon!

 

[vli]

Hello everyone--you can submit your questions to Elisabeth here too, if you like, as I am in charge of forwarding her questions and I am following this thread. She wants more!

 

[Bob]

Our first live book reading event is in approx 9 hours time.

Eastern Standard Time: Fri, 21 Nov 2014, 9pm
UK time: Sat, 22 Nov 2014, 2am
(Please convert for your own time zone.)

Live event link:
http://bit.ly/1EUuRQe

 

[Bob]

Just over two hours to go until the first book-reading...
Please join us...

Eastern Standard Time: 9pm
UK time: 2am
(Please convert for your own time zone.)

Live event link:
http://bit.ly/1EUuRQe

 

[Bob]

Remember that we'll have more live book-readings over the next 24 hours to cater for all time zones...

 

[Esther12]

Thanks to all those involved in this.

It looks like I'll be able to watch without a google+ account. Not sure if that's right, but might be of interest to those interested in avoiding having yet another password to remember.

(I bet I sound really old here, and everyone else knows exactly how google+ works for those with and without accounts).

 

[Gingergrrl]

You don't sound old and someone just texted me about this but for the life of me I cannot figure it out. I don't have a google or Gmail account and never heard of Google plus or hang outs and am giving up b/c too complex for me!

 

[Esther12]

I got an error too... we both must sound old!

(I've been having trouble with my PC too, so it may well be my end that's the trouble)

The video looks like it is now up here though:

 

[Esther12]

I enjoyed the stuff about the snail much more than I expected... I never listen to things like that anymore. Thanks Elisabeth.

 

[Sean]

(I bet I sound really old here, and everyone else knows exactly how google+ works...).

Not me, and I am supposed to be the techno-geek in my family.

However, I do have a Google account and the video streaming worked for me without any special trickery, just clicked through the links supplied back up this thread.

 

[vli]

@Gingergrrl you can catch the second show at this link on YouTube in ten hours

 

[vli]

Sorry, we made a mistake in the live recording that we had to take out and so Esther's link above will not work anymore, but here is its replacement. (Part I: "Discovery")