William Hornaday's quote about "stuffed monstrosities" is from his essay "Common Faults in the Mounting of Quadrupeds," which appeared in the SAT's 1884 annual report. This report also contains the information about the 1883 SAT convention and the exhibit "A Taxidermist's Sanctum."
Taxidermy manuals are fascinating to look at and to read. I mention four of them in this chapter: The Breakthrough Mammal Taxidermy Manual by Brent Houskeeper (B. Publications, 1990); Montagu Browne's Practical Taxidermy (1878); Oliver Davie's Methods in the Art of Taxidermy (1894); and William Hornaday's Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting (1891; I used the 1916 edition).
10. GRAY SQUIRREL, YELLOW DAWN
Leon Pray was an American taxidermist who wrote one of the most popular taxidermy manuals in the United States. In 1972, his Taxidermy was in its twenty-sixth edition. Bruce Schwendeman's exceptionally rare first-edition copy of Pray's "The Squirrel Mounting Book," a pamphlet published by Modern Taxidermist in 1938, sat on my desk for years, unopened.
I read about Roy Orbison on several Web sites, including Billboard online, Wikipedia, and RoyOrbison.com.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WITHOUT THE PEOPLE who shared their lives with me, this book would not exist. My heartfelt thanks go to David and Bruce Schwendeman, Ken Walker, and Emily Mayer and their families. These gifted artists welcomed me into their homes and studios, fed me, lent me books and articles, and answered my questions until I finally understood. I will miss hanging around their workshops.
My thanks to all the taxidermists, collectors, scientists, curators, conservators, antiques dealers, artists, and enthusiasts for their unstinting contributions to this book. Taxidermists David Astley, Larry Blomquist, Carl Church, Jack Fishwick, Frank Greenwell, Jerry Jackson, Joe Kish, Dave Luke, Roger Martin, John Matthews, Paul Rhymer, Dave Spaul, Jan van Hoesen, and countless others helped me gain an understanding of their art form. Jessica Stevens was the kindest judge an amateur squirrel mounter could hope for.
My research was made easier by the assistance of the staff of the American Museum of Natural History library. I am grateful to thank Floyd Easterman for providing me with copies of the SAT annual reports and William Hornaday's personal scrapbook. Karen Wonders traded me a copy of "Habitat Dioramas" for a copy of Still Life; my book could not have existed without her scholarship. Conservator Catharine Hawks referred me to important sources and leads. Emma Hawkins faxed me two old Potter's catalogs. Conservation scientist Amandine Péquignot was a big help in the eleventh hour.
Fish curator Oliver Crimmen took me on two fascinating tours of the Natural History Museum storeroom and gave me useful articles; Pat Morris and Mary Burgis served as superb guides in England; and Steve Quinn led me around the AMNH dioramas and reviewed my Akeley chapter for accuracy. And Stephanie Adler-Yuan tackled the daunting task of fact checking the entire book.
A writer couldn't ask for a smarter agent, friend, and editor than Tina Bennett. Tina believed in this project through its growing pains and through what turned out to be many changes in the publishing world. Only Tina saw the potential of taxidermy before it was fashionable. Her exact words were, "Who knew there was so much life in taxidermy?"
I am indebted to David Corcoran of the New York Times for assigning the germinal article and Studio 360 for producing my radio segment on the Schwendemans.
Andrea Schulz and Eamon Dolan, book editors extraordinaire, vastly improved the book on every level, from armature to hiding the seams and imperfections. I thank them for their encouragement, insight, and wit, as well as for challenging me to do what I thought was impossible: write with authority and be myself. Thanks also to Svetlana Katz, Rick Tetzeli, Lindsey Smith, Barbara Jatkola, and everyone at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Of all the people who now know more about taxidermy than they ever thought possible, I'd like to thank my very supportive parents, Marcia and Paul Milgrom, and the other Milgroms: Steve, Robin, Arthur, and Jake. My friends, whose moral support was boundless, deserve a week at the spa on me: Frieda Alutin, Erma Estwick, Camille Korschun-Bastillo, Lorraine McCune, Nathalie Schueller, Lisa Waltuch, and Ulalume Zavala. And, of course, I'd especially like to thank Eric, Sabine, and Greta for their incredible patience and for believing that all families take vacations to see Jeremy Bentham and talk about squirrels at the dinner table.
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