"The Field Guide for Chickens" looks, from the outside, to be a dry tome on our feathered friends, but Milwaukee author Pam Percy's latest contribution to "chick lit" is actually an interesting overview of chickens.
In the book, published by Minnesota's Voyageur Press, Percy, who runs Crème -- a Whitefish Bay bath and body boutique -- with her daughter Katie Segel and writes a gossip column with her husband, fellow writer Marty Hintz, offers information on more than 60 different breeds, tells the 8,000-year history of chickens and examines chicken behavior, characteristics and more.
The book also features photos and some lovely artistic renderings (sorry) of the different breeds featured.
Percy is also the author of "The Complete Chicken," which Voyageur published in 2002. We asked Percy about her new book and her fowl passion.
OMC: Tell us about your background with chickens?
PP: I started raising chickens about 20 years ago when I moved to our farmhouse on Brown Deer Road. A neighbor was tired of his flock of 30, so gave me a house warming present. This was my first chicken experience. I also started collecting anything that looked like a chicken until one day I had an epiphany that I was going to write a book about chickens in art. So I quit my job as the managing director of Theatre X and spent a year in libraries all over the country and came up with a book that was eventually published by Voyageur Press called "The Complete Chicken." That book was more of a personal journey and a highpoint for me.
OMC: "The Complete Chicken" was more general in nature and perhaps more light-hearted than this more serious tome. What's next for you, a manual for chicken brain surgery?
PP: I'm afraid this is as technical as I get. Science was never my forte, so this involved a lot more research than I had anticipated.
OMC: How did you come to write this one? Was it an assignment or did you pitch it to the publishers?
PP: It was definitely an assignment that I at first turned down. The whole thing sounded too technical and tedious. But, since the advance was a little more than chicken scratch, I changed my mind. I also thought it would be easy. Boy, was I wrong. Research turned up so many contradictions, so I had to keep digging farther and farther to get some consistency.
OMC: What are the rules for city folk having chickens? For years, until quite recently, there was one in a Bay View backyard. But is that a no-no?
PP: Most cities are not zoned for chicken rearing although there are exceptions. Madison now allows two hens per household. Seattle has long been a chicken-friendly town with elaborate chicken coops around town. In Milwaukee, chickens are a no-no, but quiet hens with chicken-friendly neighbors have been known to live in the city. I have a feeling that when Avian Flu hits the country, the rules may change and no one will be permitted to have chickens.
OMC: Who is this book is aimed at: general readers, blossoming agriculturalists or the generally curious?
PP: I'm not sure. There are a lot of chicken lovers. Voyageur Press delayed the release because of Avian Flu. I don't think you'll catch it from reading the book. The chicken industry and chicken raisers are needless to say, worried about the future of chickens.
OMC: Is Doris (Percy's pet) now writing her half of the gossip column from the big coop in the sky?
PP: I still miss my best chicken friend Doris, who, as you know disappeared last summer. Probably a hawk. I have an unfinished book about her called "Doris Rides Alone," a Photoshop-ed picture book of her adventures. She rode a Harley, visited bars, partied big time and looked for love.
The Voyageur Press Web site is voyageurpress.com.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
