John James Audubon

“I felt an intimacy with them…bordering on frenzy [that] must accompany my steps through life.” JJA

His ornithological body of works always brings a smile to my face, and a little bit of joy into my life. My latest book purchase is The Birds of America. Eventhough the completed body of work was sold last December at an auction for $11.5 million, you can purchase the abbreviated version at your local book store. His original body of work consisted of 435 life-size, hand-colored prints that were published over the course of thirteen years.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about Audubon’s splendid birds, and the fact that we have one major thing in common. He was born in Haiti, my motherland. John James Audubon was born at his father’s sugar plantation in Saint-Domingue, while I was born in Port-au-Prince. His father was a French navel officer, and his mother, Jeanne Rabine, was from Les Touches, France. John’s father eventually moved away from the island to his native France. As a young adult, Audubon came to live in the United States, and it was there he began his ornithological career. His father would note that John always had an affinity for birds. According to Jean Audubon, his son “would point out the elegant movement of the birds, and the beauty and softness of their plumage. He called my attention to their show of pleasure or sense of danger, their perfect forms and splendid attire.” How marvelous! I would have loved to meet him.