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E-PrinceBest-selling author and University alumna Jodi Picoult ’87 has returned with a new novel, “Lone Wolf,” released internationally last month. Picoult will visit campus on Thursday, April 19, to give a talk about her new novel at Whitman College.
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Once upon a time, I too admired Picoult for the extensive research she conducted for the backgrounds of her novels. No more. Wolf educators, scientists, and researchers are trying to mop up the damage Picoult has done to legitimate wolf information with her fabricated tale of the pack dynamics and social interactions of wild wolves. Picoult's sole reliance on Shaun Ellis was a big mistake. Yes, Ellis is indeed controversial. He is controversial because his interactions are with captive wolves despite his contention that 20 years ago, he lived in Idaho for 2 1/2 years with a wild wolf pack - he isn't sure where because he had "no map and no compass." There WERE no wild wolves in Idaho 20 years ago - for starters. Yes, the book is fiction, but it is not fantasy. Luke, the "wolf expert," represents a real researcher, and Picoult's fans are celebrating the knowledge they have acquired by reading this book. And the wolf organizations and educators are left to try and contain the damage.
Q:Is it really that big of a deal?
A: No
Yes. It is "that big of a deal." It is always a big deal when a writer (fiction or otherwise) misinforms readers and passes that misinformation off as "science." Again - this is a novel. It is fiction. But Picoult basks in her reputation as a researcher of her background material. Readers are exclaiming about how much they have learned about wild wolves from reading this book. And Picoult is laughing all the way to the bank.