Last of the Curlews

infobox Book |
name = Last of the Curlews
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Fred Bodsworth
cover_artist =
country = Canada
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = McClelland & Stewart
release_date = 1954
media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Last of the Curlews" is a novel, a fictionalized account of the life of the last Eskimo Curlew. It was written by Fred Bodsworth, a Canadian newspaper reporter and naturalist, and published in 1954.

Plot introduction

The story follows the bird throughout a year during its migration to South America and return to the Canadian Arctic in search of a mate. Although somewhat anthropomorphic in parts, the book paints a realistic and detailed picture of this bird's life and behaviour.

The book may have been somewhat premature in that there were confirmed sightings of this bird in 1963 and there were a number of unconfirmed sightings after that date. However, this bird may now be extinct.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The book was made into an animated film by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The English original version narrated by Ross Martin, who became famous as the Artemus Gordon character in the "Wild, Wild West" original series. This film was first shown in October 1972 as ABC's very first "After School Special." It was given an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming in 1973.cite book|last=Barbera|first=Joseph|title=My Life in "Toons": From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century|year=1994|publisher=Turner Publishing|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn= 1-57036-042-1|pages=191-192, 216] cite web|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/319781/The-Last-of-the-Curlews/overview|title=The Last of the Curlews (1972)|work=ABC Afternoon Special|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2008-09-13]

Trivia

The 1988 edition (ISBN 1-887178-25-2) includes a foreword by the Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and an afterword by the Nobel Laureate physicist Murray Gell-Mann.

References