Off The Page from WSKG · Episode 10 - Julie Zickefoose talks about Saving Jemima: The Life and Love of a Hard Luck Jay
Julie Zickefoose joins host Crystal Sarakas to talk about birds, blogs, and raising a blue jay during one of the hardest times in her life. About Saving Jemima: When Jemima, a young orphaned blue jay, is brought to wildlife rehabilitator Julie Zickefoose, she is a virtually tailless, palm-sized bundle of gray-blue fluff. But she is starved and very sick. Julie’s constant care brings her around, and as Jemima is raised
for eventual release, she takes over the house and the rest of the author's summer. Shortly after release, Jemima turns up with a deadly disease. But medicating a free-flying wild bird is a challenge. When the PBS show Nature expresses interest in filming Jemima, Julie must train her to behave on camera, as the bird gets ever wilder. Jemima bonds with a wild jay, stretching her ties with the family. Throughout, Julie grapples with the fallout of Jemima’s illness, studies molt and migration, and does her best to keep Jemima strong and wild. She falls hard for this engaging, feisty and funny bird, a creative muse and source of strength through the author’s own heartbreaking changes. Julie Zickefoose is author and illustrator of Letters from Eden, The Bluebird Effect, Baby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest, and Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay. Awakening readers to the astonishing things birds and animals think and do is her job. She writes and paints from Indigo Hill, an 80-acre sanctuary in Appalachian Ohio. Read Julie's Blog Follow Julie on Instagram @juliezickefoose or on Twitter @harpyeye Find Julie's books here or at your local independent bookstore.