Touched takes readers on a captivating journey to Mexico’s famed San Ignacio Lagoon, a magical place where migrating gray whales arrive by the hundreds in winter to breed and give birth. The book is ingeniously organized as a four-stranded narrative which deftly braids the perspectives of a poet, a cetologist, a fisherman, and an activist to offer an informative and inspiring story of how this unique whale nursery was protected and preserved. Best of all is the gorgeous, evocative lyricism of the prose here. The authors have achieved spiritually elevating language befitting the grace and beauty of the whales themselves. A tour de force multidisciplinary appreciation of one of the most remarkable fellow creatures on our beleaguered yet still redemptive home planet.
—Michael P. Branch
Author of Raising Wild and On the Trail of the Jackalope
Touched is a wonderful and comprehensive overview of the magic of gray whales and Laguna San Ignacio, a globally important conservation success story.
—Serge Dedina, PhD
Executive Director of WILDCOAST, author of Saving the Gray Whale
In this extraordinarily beautiful book, the reader is elevated on the wings of a poet, two scientists, and a dedicated local resident of Laguna San Ignacio—all of whom converge in their appreciation of the spiritual tie between humans and cetaceans. I am now convinced that the whale (rather than some hairy, bipedal primate) should be our totemic animal. The wonderful photographs tell their own story, while illustrating the textual one. I plan to experience Laguna San Ignacio as a tourist but in truth I regard it to be as much a pilgrimage to better understand
my own soul.
—William A. Douglass
Author of Whose Fish Is It? The Sport-Fishing Conundrum in the Contemporary World
This book is a journey into the miraculous. Exploring the human story of the local whale-knowers and putting science in service to their majesty, the book contains an exquisite beauty of thought and elegance of writing that honors the whale-soul of the oceans. The reader is transported into the experience of stroking and being touched by whales who offer this in spite of
all that humans have done to them. This book makes a sensational demand: that we try to rise to their level.
—Jay Griffiths
Author of How Animals Heal Us and Wild
That was the best day of my life. What a phenomenal experience. Epic. Epic. Epic. [About visiting gray whales at Laguna San Ignacio.]
—Stephen Fry
Writer, actor, lifelong whale addict
As an antidote to despair, the gray whale’s recovery is one of the world’s greatest environmental success stories. If you’re lucky enough to visit San Ignacio Lagoon at the right time, you can touch a gray whale—just like Pachico Mayoral did all those years ago. If you can’t make that pilgrimage, touch the whales by reading this book. In either case you will be touched in return.
—Rob Jackson, Stanford University climate scientist
Chair of the Global Carbon Project
author of Into the Clear Blue Sky
Touched is more than just a story; it is a testament to the transformative power of interspecies connection. It is an invitation to reimagine our relationship to the wild places and beings we encounter, emphasizing our profound interconnectedness and mutual dependence on the natural world. The range of perspectives spans the poignant history of whaling, the evocative essence of place, academic discourse on species biology, local wisdom, to the nuanced realm of policy expertise. In bringing these four distinguished thinkers together, the book underscores the critical role of interdisciplinary dialog, offering a blueprint for navigating a path toward meaningful policy. Touched is a must-read for anyone passionate about environmental justice and committed to co-creating a sustainable future that benefits not only human interests but also the larger ecosystems, of which we are a part.
—Sara Michas-Martin Stanford University environmental/humanities lecturer, author of Gray Matter
Touched is an homage to the wild wonders of Laguna San Ignacio, but it is also a deep exploration of our relationships with other species, the meaning that comes from a sense of place, and the great efforts required for long-term stewardship of the natural world.
—Lauren E. Oakes Author of Treekeepers and In Search of the Canary Tree
The gray whales of Laguna San Ignacio share the intimacies of their lives in close proximity with human beings. No other whales come so close to us, nowhere else in the world. This fine book is the first to tell, in many voices, this incredible story.
—David Rothenberg Author of Whale Music and Survival of the Beautiful