You won’t be able to put Cat Tale down.” - Gilbert King, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning Devil in the Grove

Sure, Cat Tale has plenty of laughs and Florida weirdness, but Pittman has written a truly inspirational story about the panther’s brush with extinction, and the human beings who were determined to save the species.

“Craig Pittman has a remarkable talent for telling stories set in the Sunshine State that never fail to fascinate and entertain. It drew me in with its humor, frustrated me with all the bureaucracy and forcefully presented a path for those who care to join and fight back before it’s too late.” - Jim Dutcher, coauthor of The Wisdom of Wolves This captivating book builds a story around the science and touched on my own experiences with defending cougars and wolves. “With a mixture of science, politics, personalities and the Endangered Species Act, Craig Pittman weaves an intriguing story, following the efforts to recover the Florida Panther from extinction. The ups-and-downs in this tale of survival, coupled with the charisma of the panther, make Pittman's 'cat tale' hard to put down.' - Booklist Starred Review I think it was my great-aunt who took a draw on her cigarette and said at one point, 'I think you are ready for Travis McGee.'In this delightful blend of scientific writing and good old-fashioned muckraking, award-winning journalist Pittman pens the absorbing tale of how the Florida panther was brought back from near-extinction. I come from a family of thriller readers. I grew up hunting and fishing on lakes and beaches, and canoeing in Boy Scouts, but it wasn't until Travis McGee books that I realized that A) those places were special and B) they were under threat. MacDonald was one of the writers who inspired your interests in writing and the environment. (It) put me off Mailer for a long time, even though friends have repeatedly told me I should try The Executioner's Song. It was awful, and then he went and directed a movie based on the book that I hear was even worse. The nation was really divided back then and there was a lot of uncertainty.

It's interesting to look and see how politics in this nation have changed, but so many times we are in the same boat. I also try to read a fiction and a nonfiction at the same time, and so my nonfiction is Miami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman Mailer, about the 1968 election and the conventions. Then I realized there were a lot, and I'm barely scratching the surface. This year is the 100th anniversary of his birth, and my New Year's resolution was to read as many non-Travis McGee books of his this year as I can.

Paving Paradise by Craig Pittman