Magic City Books is happy to welcome Merrill Sapp for a free, in-store event on Wednesday, May 28 to celebrate her book, Knowing Wonder. This event will take place in the Algonquin Room at Magic City Books, 221 E. Archer Street in the Tulsa Arts District.
In her stunning evocation of the lives of a small herd of elephants as they roam across the African continent, Merrill Sapp has created a small, haunting miracle. This beautiful portrait of these majestic, deeply intelligent and empathetic creatures is both fascinating and enraging. It is the elephants’ fate to be so deeply attuned to their environment and yet ultimately helpless when confronted with the rapacious greed and stupidity of men. Sapp tells us that elephants never forget. Anyone who reads this book won’t forget it, either. —Alex George, author of The Paris Hours and owner of Skylark Bookshop
Merrill Sapp will be in conversation with Dr. Eric W. Sherburn, who was born and raised in Norman, Oklahoma. He attended the University of Oklahoma earning a BS in zoology, a BA in Philosophy as well as his MD degree. He worked as an Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant for the National Football League and currently serves as Director for the Concussion Center for the OU/TU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa.
Knowing Wonder was published by Reverberation Books on January 14, 2025 and will be available for sale at Magic City Books.
About Knowing Wonder
Experience the rhythm of life within an elephant family. Journey with Lua as she leads her family along the interwoven paths that she shares with humans and other animals as they confront a land on the brink of collapse. Both fiction and nonfiction, Knowing Wonder: An Elephant Story invites you to explore the world of elephants within the context of real behavior and events connected with scientific insight into their inner lives. Know the family’s intimacy in birth and death, joy and sorrow. As Lua navigates the seasons of her life, she will challenge you to change the way you see her and the world. You will never look at elephants the same.
About the Author
Merrill Sapp is a cognitive psychologist, physician assistant, professor, and student of nature. She has traveled the world to learn about and work in the service of elephants. As a cognitive psychologist, she explores elephants’ experience of the world to show how they respond to their surroundings and their surroundings respond back. Her writing has appeared in About Place Journal, Ecological Citizen, Earth Island Journal, and Mongabay News. She teaches at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.
About the Illustrator
Gareth Hook grew up on a remote farm in Zimbabwe and learned at an early age the unique, sometimes hostile ways of the untamed world. His education, including a fine arts degree from Rhodes University, South Africa, led to his passion for painting, drawing, and capturing the essence of the African animal. Gareth’s close affinity with the natural world informs his subject matter, and he has made generous donations of his artwork to support conservation and anti-poaching efforts in Zimbabwe.
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