Moir, John

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Moir, John

PERSONAL:

Male.

CAREER:

Writer. National Science Teachers Association, staff writer; Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss Landing, CA, tour leader and assistant researcher.

MEMBER:

Authors Guild, National Association of Science Writers, Northern California Science Writers Association, American Birding Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

East of Eden Writing Conference first place for nonfiction, National Steinbeck Center, 2004, for "Bringing Back the Condor,"

WRITINGS:

Just In Case: Everyone's Guide to Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Self-Help, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA), 1980.

Return of the Condor: The Race to Save Our Largest Bird from Extinction, Lyons (Guilford, CT), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including Birding. Contributor to 2006 Writer's Market, Writer's Digest Books, 2005; and Best of Novel Advice, Noveladvice Press, 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Science writer John Moir first became interested in the California condor while conducting research for a Birding magazine piece featuring the endangered species. The award-winning article, titled "Bringing Back the Condor," became the basis for Return of the Condor: The Race to Save Our Largest Bird from Extinction, published in 2006. The book chronicles the story of the birds' depletion to near extinction in the 1980s, and the ultimately successful yet controversial captive breeding program that restored populations in the wild. The book was described by a contributor to California Bookwatch as a "riveting, readable story" that is "inspiration to any who read about human-influenced extinctions." A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that Moir writes "deftly" and "convincingly," adding that the book "keeps the reader in suspense." Henry T. Armistead detailed in a review for Library Journal: "Moir's useful, annotated appendixes detail condor web sites as well as where to see wild and captive condors." Moir's interest in birds goes beyond the investigative: He is a member of the American Birding Association and tour leader for the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Moss Landing, California.

Moir is also writer of the 1980 disaster management text Just In Case: Everyone's Guide to Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Self-Help and contributor to two books on writing as a profession: 2006 Writer's Market and Best of Novel Advice.