Interview with Bob Levy, Author of Club George

Bob Levy, whose book, Club George, I recently reviewed here, very kindly agreed to participate in an email interview with me that I could publish here. It took me a little while to follow up on it, but thanks to the magic of email, and to Bob's quick response, the interview is below, for you to enjoy. It also includes some cool new news that no one (to the best of my knowledge) has revealed before!

[Note: minor editorial changes were made in square brackets to improve clarity]

Do you consider yourself to be a bird watcher or do you instead think of yourself as someone who enjoys the company of certain birds (George, in particular)?

I was not a bird-watcher when I first met George. In fact I resisted the idea when I first suspected that I might be becoming one.

"Who me, a bird-watcher?" I thought to myself, "What's up with that?"

Gradually I had to accept the incontrovertible evidence. I had not merely become a casual or even recreational bird-watcher but an obsessive-compulsive one. I enjoy watching all sorts of birds but I tend to concentrate on observing their behaviors more than counting how many species I can find.

Anne Hobbs, the Public Information Specialist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, once told me that her correspondents could be assigned to two basic camps. She described the "listers" as those who focus on finding as many species as possible and the "watchers" who find bird behavior more compelling. I am unambiguously a "watcher." It is telling that until Brian Lehrer [WNCY radio] asked me how many species I have seen, during an interview no less, I had not felt the need to take a count. I recovered quickly from this very public "duh" moment on live radio and made a quick calculation. I told him I thought I had seen around 100 species. I was wrong. Afterward I took a count and came up with 154.

Among these I do have my favorites. Obviously, Red-winged Blackbirds are one of them. I am similarly fascinated with Northern Cardinals and they, unlike George and his migrating ilk, are mine to enjoy in Central Park all year long. My fondness for cardinals is so strong that the [proposed] sequel to Club George will be called Cardinals Rule.

Have you seen George yet this year?

Forgive me if I invoke my author's privilege to say you will have to read the sequel to learn the answer to this question.

Have Ruby and Claudia (his mates from last year) returned, or are there new females on his territory?

Ditto. Wait for the sequel, please.

Have you seen his mates from last year on another territory? Have you seen any birds that might be offspring of his from last year?

I should point out that none of the Red-winged Blackbirds were tagged or banded so I had to rely on their behavior and physical location to identify individuals. That's not as difficult as it sounds with highly territorial birds, like Red-winged Blackbirds, that I could count on finding in the same place day after day, but George had a physical marker, a droopy wing, that made him easy to identify.

In general, with the exception of George, it was possible to distinguish one bird from another during a particular breeding season but much more difficult in the succeeding one. This is a two-part question. My answer to the other part requires that you wait for the other book (i.e. the sequel).

How long was it after you met George before you decided to write a book about your experiences with him?

Near the end of my first season with George I decided to keep a detailed record of my observations during the following season, provided George returned to his breeding ground. I presumed the plucky bird would come back and he did. Once I started that journal, the idea that it might contain the makings of a book first occurred to me.

Why did you decide to write a book about George?

Club George was my second book. The first was called The Qwerk Werks, which has not been published to date. (Sigh). That book was a work of fiction -- though others might argue parts of Club George may be as well -- and [that first book was] illustrated with my own drawings. The genre is unsatisfying referred to as a "graphic novel." Many assume a racy meaning implicit in that appellation that is inappropriate, at least in my work. An "illustrated novel" might be a better term but it does not adequately describe the format either. For The Qwerk Werks, I created a troop of cartoon characters. (Got any ideas for a better one?). The narrative is centered on identical twins called Qwerk and Qwark. It's a funny book. No, really.

By the time I finished that project I knew the writing bug had seriously infected me, so to speak. In searching for my next project I consciously sought something that I thought would be comparatively easy to write and would be more marketable. Selecting George was a no-brainer, as I believe that any author writes best about topics she or he feels passionately about. In retrospect, I know I was correct in believing Club George was more marketable because it sold within a few weeks of handing the manuscript to my agent.

I was stupendously incorrect assuming that writing a non-fiction book would be less challenging than a graphic novel. Silly me.

What has your experience with George and his family taught you about birds?

George's "konk-la-ree" song served as my wake-up call. His forceful presence, personality, manner or whatever you prefer to call it, compelled me to pay attention first to him, then to his species and eventually to all birds and other critters I came across during my personal transformation described in Club George.

It is an oversimplification merely to say that I became a bird-watcher. I discovered a true passion that I had not known I possessed until a charismatic 8.75-inch two-ounce bunch of gorgeously arranged feathers awakened me to it. In addition to their physical beauty, the manner in which they go about "making a living", their relationships with their relatives, their environment and me continue to be sources of tremendous fascination.

What has your experience with George and his family taught you about life in general?

In the past I had never aspired to be a writer but once I started writing I became hooked on the process. Even in the planning stages of Club George, when it was only a series of journal entries, I had a strong belief that I would fashion it into a coherent narrative that would be published.

This was an all too rare instance in my life when faith, persistence and hard work, lavished with a lot of love, actually produced wonderful tangible results. I am not blind to the fact that the amount of success I have achieved so far is small and getting one book published may not result in a successful career as a writer, but I will always have the satisfaction of being able to hold the book in my hands and feel deep satisfaction that I created it and that others appreciate it too. That thought alone makes it "worth the price of admission" even if it might not pay the rent.

Is there anything that you wish I had asked you but didn't?

You did not ask me about the sequel, Cardinals Rule. Did I remember to mention it?

[I am waiting Bob's responses to my questions regarding this sequel and I will share anything new that he tells me. The only thing that I know is that he is currently writing a proposal for this book, but I know nothing more than that]

Included in the 13th edition of the Literature Carnival.