Meet the amazing Eliot Schrefer, and see why we're big fans!
Scope: Why do you write stories about animals?
Eliot: I've always been excited by animal stories. When I was young, I liked reading about animals because they seemed like they needed help, and they were also voiceless.
Scope: Where did you get the idea for Animal Distress Calls?
Eliot: Many years ago, I had a friend who worked as a doctor at the Bronx Zoo. One evening he invited me to see the zoo after hours. Wandering that still, dark zoo was haunting. I was imagining adventures with big wild animals, but only the wolves were awake. Then he took me into the clinic, where I met a sick bird. That nighttime visit clearly had a big impact on this story.
Scope: Why did you leave Josie's fate ambiguous in the story Animal Distress Calls?
Eliot: So many of us have known a creature, human or nonhuman, who's been suffering. Sometimes everything gets better, and sometimes it doesn't. That doesn't change the important, compassionate act of caring. I didn't want the story to become about the outcome of Josie's illness. I wanted it to be about the sympathy Josie and Julia share for each other.
Scope: Have you had a personal experience with an animal that changed you?
Eliot: I had a moment during research for my ape novels when I was staying at a bonobo sanctuary in Congo. I'd have breakfast with Oshwe, a young bonobo who was too little to eat with the rest of the group. Sitting with him for a few hours each morning, I helped make sure that he finished his meal and got the nutrition he needed—but it also felt like a gift he was giving me. Oh, I remember thinking, you're spending this precious morning time with me!
