Tonight on Bibliocracy:
MARTIN J. SMITH. The confusion over pop culture, trivia and
politics, of what is important and what is not is often resolved by the urgency
of individual writing and reporting, and the skill of the writers on such
topics in constructing a context, not to mention be entertaining and teach the
reader. The perhaps unlikely topic of
the revenue stamp sold as a bird hunting license in the United States is transformed into
an engaging, fun, and teachable one by my guest this week, the mystery writer,
pop and trivia historian-in-chief, magazine editor and journalist Martin J.
Smith. His newest, The Wild Duck Chase: Inside the
Strange and Wonderful World of the Federal Duck Stamp Contest might be
indexed, in no particular order, as wildlife education, conservation history,
nature painting, federal natural resources management, ducks, hunting, the
legacy of the New Deal, the subculture of wildfowl painters and, well, so much
more. It’s a book which explores the
cooperation and the tension between two groups of citizens, both of whom like
ducks: some as targets and some as, well, beauty and indicators of ecological
health of the planet. And some who
understand the shared interest of both groups.
Marty Smith is a former senior editor at the Los Angeles Times and currently editor in chief at Orange Coast. He is the author of three crime novels and
his previous nonfiction work includes Oops:
20 Life Lessons from the Fiascoes that Shaped America and Poplorica, both with Patrick J. Kiger. Thanks
for listening, on the radio or online, and downloadable for free from the KPFK
audio archives.
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