Amy Tan Talks Birding, The Rock Bottom Remainders and More

Amy Tan

Author Amy Tan is a rock star. Well, kind of. At her talk for Sarasota's Off the Page celebration, I learned that she's in a band with some other authors, including Stephen King and Dave Berry. I was still trying to wrap my head around that when she told a hilarious story about a rehearsal when she was new to the group. 

Tan tried out "Bye, Bye, Love" for the other band members (all of whom were male). Her choice got a hard pass. The guys told her they envisioned "their" Amy wearing a short skirt, fishnet stockings and thigh high boots while singing "These Boots Are Made for Walking." It became her signature song, with a bit of a flourish. After the last note, the guys lean over and she whips them as she tells them they're bad. What??? This was not the image of Tan I came into the evening with (nor of King for that matter). Click here to see a clip of Tan singing lead at a Rock Bottom Remainders concert many moons ago. Now on to some book talk. 

Tan's latest offering is "The Backyard Bird Chronicles." It's a book she has said was born of despair. Following the 2016 election, the country had turned into an ugly place. As an Asian American, Tan found herself the target of racism in a way she never had before. She had also just wrapped up her memoir "Where the Past Began." It was not a book she had wanted to write, but her publisher kept pushing her. Once she agreed, her past took front and center in her mind. It was emotionally overwhelming. 

Tan's father and brother both died from brain tumors when she was a teenager. That left young Amy with her mother, with whom she had an extremely tumultuous relationship. Her mother was not only suicidal but dangerous. When Tan was 16, her mother came at her with a cleaver and threatened to kill her. Tan was forced to relive these traumatic experiences -- and more -- while writing her life story. Once the book was done, Tan realized she had lost hope for the future. Something in her life had to change. But how? She remembered Jane Goodall saying that the best hope isn't something you have, it's something you do. For Goodall, that was conservation. For Tan, it was birding. 

It didn't take long for what Tan had intended to be a distraction to turn into a passion. It became commonplace to find her with a birding book in hand. Her new hobby didn't only help her pass the time. It gave her an immediate sense of calm. It turns out there's a scientific reason for that. Being in nature for even ten minutes can raise your dopamine and seratonin levels. Who knew? 

Over time, Tan realized that while going out into the world in search of birds was fun, it wasn't necessary. Lots of birds stopped in to enjoy her own backyard. She decided to make her yard even more hospitable by filling it with plants that would attract birds, bees and butterflies. (She jokingly refers to the space as "Amy's Bistro and Spa.") 

John Muir Laws preaches the importance of "pencil miles."

Tan shared that an unexpected benefit of creating her avian-friendly yard is seeing the same birds return year after year. Not the same species, but the same actual birds. How does she know? If a bird arrives and flies directly into a cage for some suet without having to figure out how to negotiate the mesh entry, she knows it's been there before.  

From the outset of her birding journey, Tan set out to do more than maintain a list of birds she'd seen. She'd create a nature journal with sketches from her sightings. But there was one problem. Tan suffers from what she calls "perfection syndrome." Even though she was just creating her journal for herself, she still felt pressure to do it "right." She took a class on nature journaling with John Muir Laws before getting started. And while that was helpful, a chance meeting on a field trip with then 13 year old Fiona Gillogy proved even more valuable. 

When Tan got a look at Fiona's journal, she couldn't believe what a mess it was. Yes, there were sketches of the birds she'd seen. But there were also an overwhelming amount of question marks and comments. Where was the order in her findings? Fiona explained to Tan that the whole point behind nature journaling is to keep asking questions about what you see. As the saying goes, out of the mouths of babes. Tan immediately adopted Fiona as her "curiosity mentor." Several years later, the two are still good friends and fellow birders. They are planning a trip to Platte, Nebraska to see the migration of more than 1 million sandhill cranes. Wow. 

Thanks to the Sarasota County Libraries for a terrific launch of this year's Off the Page Celebration. It was a real treat to hear how "The Backyard Bird Chronicles" came into being. For a wonderful article about how Tan came to nature journaling and her friendship with Fiona, click here. And for more on the book, click here. 

The Off the Page Celebration runs through November 20th. Click here for a list of upcoming events. Perhaps I'll see you there.