For the Birds Radio Program: Generational Amnesia
Original Air Date: Sept. 7, 2023
People have a deep-rooted tendency to see the natural world as they first experienced it as “normal,” without recognizing the many changes, including tragic, fairly recent losses, that were happening before they started paying attention.
The illustration for today’s podcast was created by John Schoenherr for Sterling North’s 1963 book, Rascal, a memoir of his experiences as a child while his big brother was fighting in World War I. Schoenherr also illustrated the Caldecott Award-winning Owl Moon. Schoenherr gave me permission to use it in my own work, and I thought it worked well to illustrate how abundant nighthawks once were.
